Hero of Mana
by HiperKitty
Summary: We follow the heroine from the game "Legend of Mana" from the day she met the lapis knight. Her background is shrouded in mystery and her memories in blood. Slowly, both allow their hearts to communicate and feel what they never thought possible - love.
1. When Swords Clash

_Images of fire and dead bodies riddling the village, the faint sound of gasping for breath as fire consumed all in its path, burning homes and the bodies of the dead, both in the homes and out. At the doorstep of one of said homes, though face not seen, the body of a young woman who is still alive holding on to life as her back is bleeding from an unknown wound and her hands clench the earth, tears streaming down her face as she gritted her teeth in anger. The shadowy figure of a man standing over the bodies of the dead, looking down at her with cold_ _yellow_ _dragon eyes, the only thing visible is the torn in half body of a priestess, back facing the girl, with blood pooling around the figure._

Rhea flew her eyes open in a startle, instinctively placing a hand over her belt where her daggers were sheathed. She sat at her desk looking out the window with her left hand propping up her jaw before letting out a sigh. She hated dreaming.

Outside, she took notice of Bud sneaking by with something poorly concealed in his arms. Another scrap of 'ancient metal' most likely that he picked up from the junkyard. Trash really, just tossed away objects to practice his magic skills. Rhea wouldn't mind this if the twins hadn't destroyed her workshop area so many times since she took them in.

"Rhea?" speaking of the twins, Lisa carefully entered her room. "Are you busy?"

The young girl straightened her back before eying the elf child. "Just lost in my own thoughts." She smiled. "What is it?"

The young magician girl switched her 'sorry to disturb you' look into a more lively one. "I wanted to ask you if you could go to the market for bread? I was thinking on picking up the fruits from the orchard. Trent has been complaining about his branches being full."

Rhea laughed when Lisa placed both hands on her hips during her last remark. "Bread and fruit?" She shot Lisa a cocky smirk that made the younger girl nervously stare at a blank wall. "And I know we still have some cheese around... Those make a pretty good snack if one is to work all day." She rose from her chair, calmly walking towards her target who now played with her hands for no reason. "Did I see Bud arrive from the junkyard?" She enjoyed watching Lisa's guilty look. "Do you evil twins plan on destroying my workshop again with your hocus pocus magic?"

Lisa shook her head and hands in defense. "No! Not at all! We do want to try some new spells." She tried to be careful with her next choice of words. "Nothing explosive though. Just a few bending spells on raw materials... Don't look at me like that, it's true!"

It was Rhea's turn to place both hands on hips. "Fine. I believe you. I'll go get the bread. Oh..." She stared at Lisa again before going down the stairs. "Do sprinkle some water into Trent's roots will you? He has been a bit moody lately."

Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "I know. It's even more annoying 'cause he complains in that philosophical tone of his."

Rhea let out a genuine laughter as she went down the stairs and left the house. The sun hurt her eyes. They've had a clear sky for the last few weeks, but the heat was becoming unbearable. She saw Bud trying to walk past her from behind hopping she wouldn't notice him. He should have known better by now. The young mage ended up running towards the workshop with a good kick in his butt. Not strong enough to actually hurt him, but enough to send the message.

 **X**

"15 lucre for this much bread?" Rhea made sure those who passed by could hear her. "I should have gotten my fortune told to warn me I was going to get mugged. It would still cost cheaper than this!"

The merchant laughed in a nervous way. "D-did I say 15 lucre?!" He eyed the potential costumers around. "How silly of me! It's only 10 lucre of course! And you get an extra 3 loafs with that purchase! Ahah! Come again will you?"

The warrior smiled at the hint of hatred in those last words. Perhaps she could have handled the situation more quietly, but then again she never did learn to bite her tongue and avoid meaningless discussions. No wonder Niccolo paid her well for her road thieves services – just to keep her nose out of his business.

Rhea titled her head up to the sky with a slight frown as she walked the streets of Domina back home. No signs of smoke coming from her house, nor had she heard an explosion so far. Maybe she really could trust the twins this time. Rachel's bar caught her attention as she passed by while lingering in her thoughts. Could the twins behave for another 15 minutes? She could really use a beer and just relax. She needed to trust them, right? This would be nothing more than a test to their word.

And Rachel's bar had been a very good decision indeed. It was practically empty at that time of day so Rhea could enjoy her beer peacefully. Rachel had tried to make small talk with her, to wine about her 'problems', but Rhea made sure she understood she wasn't in the mood to hear her.

She was halfway done with her beer when disturbing thoughts began lingering in her mind. She desperately wanted to shake the images away, but they hung on like a popo bug to a Sprouting. It was Rubens and his death at the hands of the core hunter Sandra. The mere thought of the name caused her hands to close into a tight fist. A week had gone by and it still felt like yesterday she was in Gato to watch the Jumi die right in front of her. The scene replayed over and over again in her head and she thought of so many ways she could have saved him... but she didn't.

"Silence! Do not interrupt!"

The sudden yell brought her back to reality. Her eyes quickly locked a tall man wearing a sand colored cloak. His shout was directed towards a young couple sitting in a corner of the bar, but they really weren't the targets of his anger. To her surprise, Rachel was the one he seemed to be mad at.

"Speak up!" He threatened her. "Don't make me angry..."

Rhea had to laugh to herself. Oh, so he wasn't angry right now? Poor Rachel was so frightened she could neither move nor speak.

"What are you hiding?!" The man raised his voice once again, only this time, he rested a hand on his long sheathed sword.

That was all Rhea needed. Skillfully, she kicked a chair towards him which he managed to block with his own leg. By the time he looked up, Rhea was already running towards him with daggers in hands. Her right foot took the chair she'd tossed and used it as a momentum to strike him. Only, she never noticed the man had unsheathed his sword and managed to block her attack. Such a shame, she was right above him and at such a close distance.

The young man pulled her back with great strength and as soon as her feet touched the wooden floor, she ran half a circle around him and went in for another strike. A strike landed, however it was the sound of his sword knocking her right dagger across the bar. This made Rhea's eyes widen in surprise but she retaliated fast.

Silence.

The warrior let out a sweat. How could she not? She could practically taste the blade's steel just inches away from decapitating her head. It had been such a long time since she felt this close to death.

As for the other warrior... He wasn't in a better position. Rhea's left hand held a dagger that was just a second away from piercing his neck. One false move and one, or even both of them, would be dead.

"Who are you?" He finally broke the silence.

Rhea felt better at the hint of nervousness present in his voice. "A friend of hers." Her eyes led the way to Rachel. She wouldn't dare to move her head. "My turn. What are you doing here yelling at people?"

The man was surprised at first, but then his expression changed to one that seemed he had just realized something. "Attitude problem... A friend is missing."

"Care to elaborate?" Rhea was quick to ask.

The man sighed. "Could we... you know?"

The two warriors locked eyes with one another, testing their true intentions. Ever so slowly, both their weapons and their bodies moved away from each other. Rhea felt Rachel take cover behind her but she didn't look. The man lowered his sword and Rhea noticed he didn't sheath, she could understand this decision.

"Like I said," He began. "I'm looking for a friend. She wears a white dress and has long hair. She's like a sister to me..." He seemed to be lost in a thought for a moment but quickly ignored it. "I am worried."

"A friend... in a white dress?" Rhea gave it some thought. "You lost your bride or something?"

"I didn't lose her!" He dismissed such an idea with his arm. "She just disappeared from my side... and she's not my bride! I'm supposed to protect her."

Rhea shooed him with a hand. "Fine, fine. Rachel, did you see anything that might help him?"

The fairy-like girl eyed her with concern. Suddenly all attention fell on her. She knew she had to answer, even if Rhea's frown intimidated her it was nothing compared to the man's demonic stare.

"I-I..." Her voice failed. The man was about to approach and yell at her again, luckily for Rachel Rhea was there to glare him to remain exactly where he was. "A girl... wearing a white dress like you said, did come in and ask about stones. I told her... I told her there were some nice stones in the Mekiv Caverns. Pretty and kind of magical stones."

"Really?" Rhea raised an eyebrow at how sure Rachel sounded. "I've never personally went and explored the Mekiv Caverns so..."

"Most of the rocks there are dull. However, there's this rumor..." And they could both feel a sudden aura filled with anger from the man standing not that far away from them. "It's this... um, well... Jade thing..."

"You told Pearl to go to a cave based on a rumor?" He was definitely angry, though Rhea couldn't blame him this time around. "Where is this cave?"

The tone in his voice only caused Rachel to cower behind Rhea. She let out a sigh feeling helpless. "It's just a few hours away if you know the shortcuts. And a whole day if you don't. How long is she gone?"

The warrior looked away in embarrassment. "Almost two days..."

Rhea thought it be best not to throw salt into the wound and bite her tongue for once. "Then she could definitely have reached the cavern by now. Let's search for her."

She could sense an emotion of shock and surprise coming from Rachel and the young man. Rachel pulled on her purple skirt to try and get her to turn, but Rhea dismissed her.

"Together, with me...?" The man firmly shook his head. "But you mustn't..."

"Do you want to get there in three hours our risk leaving her in those caverns for another day?" Rhea cut him off. Sounding very serious. "I've never explored them, but I know how to get there fast. Trust me, I'm the only one in this town that can guide you there safely."

The man seemed oddly nervous, something that intrigued Rhea. "It's just that... No. I would be grateful!" He approached them, which made Rachel back away. He ignored the blue haired girl for now and focused his attention on the young two bladed warrior in front of him. He reached out a hand. "I'm Elazul."

Rhea hesitated for a while but also shook his hand. "Rhea. And I swear I don't always point a blade at people's neck before meeting them."

Elazul actually smiled at the remark. "Neither do I. When can we leave?"

"Right now." She walked back to her table where she grabbed and tossed the bag full of bread for Rachel to catch. "Take it to the twins. And tell them where I'm going." It wasn't a request and Rachel knew it. Rhea then bitterly walked over where her other dagger had been tossed. She picked it up feeling deeply embarrassed by this.

The young knight held the door open for her. "Lead the way."

Rhea eyed Rachel one last time to make sure she understood her task. The fairy-like girl simply nodded in response. "Try to keep up." She said as the two left the bar and Domina.

 **A/N:** The Mekiv event was supposed to be here as well, but trust me, that one is a chapter on its own! I just couldn't stop writing!

Anyway, so clearly some events already took place before Elazul even showed up in Domina. Such as Niccolo's business unusual part 1 and 2; the little sorcerers, the mana orchards and the flame of hope will take a special place for now. You'll find out about which other events took place so far in the next chapters! Just to keep you guys guessing eheh

Moving on to what's important. As you may see from the fic's summary, this will be a heroinexElazul kind of fic. I plan on giving the heroine, Rhea as I've named her, a mysterious dark past – and I hope I don't turn her into a mary-sue... yuck! - and despite some battles and character development between Rhea and others, this will mostly be about her and Elazul. You've been warned!

As for the rest of the Legend of Mana characters, I want to stay as true as possible to their in-game personalities. I think I will struggle a bit with Rachel... I just can't figure her out really.

That's all! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and if you have anything to say just leave a comment :)


	2. A Strange Kind of Person

The journey felt strange for Elazul. They moved fast and the girl was always sure of the next step to take. Before he knew it, she told him they were already very close to their destination. No. Perhaps it wasn't the journey itself. It was her.

This... Rhea girl. Not once, during the whole time they were walking, did she ask where he was from or any other personal questions. Elazul didn't complain. He wouldn't answer them anyway, but it was strange of her not to ask. Maybe because once someone answered one of these questions the other felt almost obligated to answer as well. It could be that she too did not like sharing personal information. At one point, he used his core to see if Rhea had one that would respond, but no such luck. The young woman was not a Jumi.

"We're here." Rhea announced while peeking inside the cave's entrance. "Draw your sword. I've never been here to clear the area of monsters."

Elazul rolled his eyes. "That makes me feel so much better for Pearl..." He then gazed towards the girl next to him. "You work as a bounty hunter?"

Rhea shrugged her shoulders and drew him a smile. "I'm not sure what you call someone who simply kills what others pay her to kill."

"A mercenary." That gave him an idea of how skilled she really was with those daggers. Although he could already tell from their fight at the bar.

The girl laughed and walked inside the cavern with the other warrior following promptly behind.

As soon as they entered the Mekiv Caverns, a blue light radiated from Elazul's chest. Rhea saw him pull the cloak to the side to reveal a shiny blue stone. She heard an agitated song coming from it, giving her the emotion of panic and fear. Elazul's face clearly portrayed those feelings, though she admired how quickly he ignored them and returned to his normal, serious self.

"I sense brilliance nearby." He shot her a determined look. "It must be Pearl! We should hurry!"

Her intense staring gave her away and Elazul realized he had exposed his core to her. Hiding it away again under his shirt, he instinctively took three steps away from her. Rhea carefully followed his movement with her eyes but that was all. She took the same three steps towards him and raised an arm that pointed further inside the cave.

"You should lead the way now. Like I said before, I never went inside these caverns. We'll get to Pearl much faster with you pinpointing her exact location."

His gaze was a very distrustful one and it sent shivers down her spine. "Don't walk behind me, walk by my side you hear?" He threatened her.

Unfortunately Rhea didn't reply well to threats. "Or what?" Her hand reached for a dagger but didn't remove it as Elazul did the same with his sword. "I have no interest in your core Jumi. Actually, I couldn't care less of what you are. I just came to help."

Elazul relaxed his grip on the sword and Rhea mimicked. "I'm sorry it's just that... you know about us don't you?"

Her eyes grew wide in awareness. "Yes... I-I do."

Rhea hugged herself as though a cold breeze had passed by. She wouldn't blink and her eyes seemed... scared. _Come any closer, and I'll kill him._ She could have just ignored those words couldn't she? Leap forward or throw a blade to distract the woman. Really, there were so many things she could have done to...

"Hey!" Elazul shook her shoulder. "What's the matter with you?"

Rhea massaged her head as if it was hurting her. She rose her eyes to meet the one's of the taller man. "Which way, then?" She asked, obviously ignoring his own question.

The knight pulled a face but he wasn't going to pray. He had his own problems. "This way." He slowly began walking and picked up his pace when Rhea joined his side.

The darn cave was indeed full with monsters. Far too many for someone in a hurry. Rhea was like a dancer with killer daggers. Slashing, turning, dodging and spinning with grace and precision. Elazul was a force to be aware of. Each time the blade slashed through a monster and hit the ground, it seemed as though the cave would fall above them. His surrounding awareness was also admirable. He could dodge or defend any attack without even looking at his assailant. None of them would ever admit it, but they admired each other's skills.

Elazul's core pulsed a radiant light. "She's right over there!" He sounded relieved to learn she was still alive.

The two rushed inside the opening and almost immediately had to dodge to each of their sides, for a giant bone club flew their way and struck the ceiling near their only way in and out of that area. By the Goddess luck, nothing caved in. Rhea and Elazul quickly got on their feet and ran to the far end of the room as a giant half monkey-rabbit monster grabbed its club, that Rhea now noticed only had the head of a dragon for bone, everything else was thick wood.

"I suddenly regret coming here..." Rhea murmured under her breath.

Elazul heard her. "Take cover then and let me handle this!"

The young knight took off before she could protest. Had she come across as a defenseless princess when descending the cave with him?

"I think not!" She shouted, more to herself than to the knight who caught the monster's individual attention. "Bud, Lisa. Dinner's on me."

The monster roared before thrusting it's massive club with a raking slash at the young knight. Rhea arrived just in time to knock him away from the hit. The two rolled on the ground and were up and dodging just as quickly. The monster was agile following up with another rake swipe through the air.

Elazul moved in for a hit. His sword sliding inside the monster's leg with effort and it took him just as much force to remove it. The monster cried in pain, swinging his club everywhere to keep the two warriors away. The monster suddenly stopped his physical attack and began inhaling. Just as Elazul and Rhea ran for another strike, the monkey-rabbit like monster blew them into the cave's wall.

Elazul lost his breath as his back hit the rocky uneven wall, but Rhea let out a concerning painful yell. The two fell on the ground and it took Elazul a moment to catch his breath again.

"This isn't going to work..." He paused while trying to get on his feet. "Attacking him dead on. His skin and muscles are too thick, I can barely get my sword to hurt him."

He noticed the great effort Rhea made to get up. "I see..." She held a hand against the wall for support and eyed Elazul. "Think you could trust me for five minutes?"

The question caught the male warrior off guard. His eyes shifting from the incoming monster and a very determined looking Rhea. His body language suggested he was uncomfortable, but he listened to her anyway.

The monster roared viciously, the echoes causing small fragments from the ceiling to fall down. His violet eyes locked on a tasty looking Jumi who was stupidly running towards him. He raised his massive club and struck down like thunder from the heavens. The swift Jumi avoided the hit yet again, although he did lose some of his balance from the impact. And now he was running to his right side, away from him.

"Rhea!" He yelled.

The female human was also running, only towards the direction the Jumi was running from. Hence towards him. Why did she carry his sword on her back? The Jumi boy suddenly came to a halt and lowered himself to the ground with his hands ready. The girl closed in and her right foot met his hands that caught her own momentum and threw her up in the air.

Rhea made a perfect land on the monster's shoulder but had to grab his fur for dear life when he began running and shaking around trying to make her fall. She took the opportunity to climb around his neck when she heard him roar in pain. That was the cue that Elazul had slashed him on the wound he'd made before. Rhea unsheathed Elazul's sword – beautiful craftsmanship. She held the hilt of the sword tight with both hands, raised it above her head and descended it across the monster's neck.

Blood filled the edge of the blade and dripped to the floor below. The monster let out its final roar before collapsing to the ground defeated. Rhea fell off when his giant body hit the ground but was caught by Elazul who laid her carefully in front of him.

Rhea inhaled a few breaths before opening her eyes. There she met Elazul's face and she could have sworn she saw concern. "Did it work?" She asked hopefully.

The Jumi warrior gazed at the monster again just to be sure. "It's dead."

"Help me up will you?"

Elazul pulled her to her feet, noticing once again the pain in her face. "Here." He handed her daggers. "Not my style."

"Good." Rhea smiled, gladly taking them from his hands and sheathing them where they belonged. She looked around the cavern and to the fallen monster. "Um..."

"I'll get it." He climbed the monster's body where Rhea had delivered the final blow. He removed his sword from the monster's neck and cleaned most of the blood on its purple fur.

Their plan had worked. Well, to be fair, her plan worked out perfectly. The monster's bulky body would hardly fall to their weapons who most likely felt like toothpicks. But taking a closer look, one could see his head didn't match the rest of his strong body – that being its weaker spot.

One of them had to get up there fast and Rhea was the lightest one for the job, just as his sword was the better one to slice thru the monster's throat. He didn't know why he'd trust her, but he sure was glad his instinct told him to rely on her.

His core shined and he suddenly remembered why he was there. "Pearl! Where are you?"

Another light came from behind a rocky formation. "Elazul?"

Rhea was surprised to see such a fragile looking girl emerge from behind the rocks. How did she manage to go so deep inside the cave without hurting herself? Elazul ran towards the shorter girl.

"Is your core alright?"

"Yes..." Pearl's voice was frail and somewhat embarrassed.

By now all of Elazul's concerns left him and they were replaced with anger. "I told you not to wonder by yourself! How did you end up here?"

The shy girl cowered. "I was, um, just thinking about things..."

"You don't need to think anymore." Elazul kept scolding her. "Right now you should just stay safe by my side."

"But..." Her eyes were pleading what her voice couldn't express.

"That's enough!" He snapped. Giving Rhea a startle as well.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Watching the girl cower like that made Rhea sick to her stomach. She paced towards them and stood next to Pearl.

"That's enough, Elazul. She's fine isn't she?"

The knight shot her a murderous look. "You stay out of this!"

To Rhea's surprise, Pearl actually went ahead and took cover behind Elazul. She hadn't meant to send a threatening aura or anything.

"Who is that?"

"Rhea." The single word came out quite bitter. "Just someone who helped me find you... A strange kind of person."

"Look who's talking." Rhea snapped back. "And you're welcome."

Elazul hissed at her. "Well then, let's go."

Pearl was suddenly stunned and confused. "But..."

"See you around, Rhea." He cut Pearl short and walked away.

Pearl began following behind him but came to a stop. Moving her timid eyes and figure towards Rhea. "Um..." Rhea couldn't believe the girl was actually blushing at her. "Th-thank you..."

"We're going!" Elazul yelled from across the room.

"I'm sorry... I'm going too." Pearl yelled back. If anyone could consider a tone above soft a yell. "Thank you, Rhea. Here, I found this." She laid down what seemed like an egg. "When I heard the word 'jade' I thought of a stone... but, all I could find was this egg. Hope it's of use to you."

The petite girl ran after Elazul and the two left Rhea's sight. Finally. The proud warrior collapsed on her hands and knees. It hurt so much that it actually brought tears to her eyes. She could feel her clothes slowly drench in her own blood.

"Goddess help me..." She whispered to the walls, somehow hopping something would come from them and aid her. Of course, nothing happened. She focused her attention on the Jade egg Pearl left her and carefully crawled to its location to pick it up in her arms.

With struggle and pain, she rose to her feet and began walking out of the cavern. All she could hope for was that she and Elazul had taken care of most of the monsters. The last thing she wanted was to fight her way out.

 **A/N:** See? I told you the Mekiv Caverns was a chapter on it own! Did you enjoy the battle with Du'inke? I'm always very unsure of myself when it comes to describing battles. And I hope the POV didn't confuse you guys! I just thought it made for a better suspense to switch perspectives ;)


	3. Apology

Rain pitted-pattered against the window, hiding any view of Domina's front grounds. Elazul held his chin up with boredom. He never imagined himself back in Domina in just two short weeks. Felt like yesterday he was at that same bar, bringing his own sword up to...

"Care for another one!?"

Elazul jumped in his seat, his head shooting up from his table. The yell belonged to Rachel, the waitress, who clearly remembered him and apparently was no longer afraid.

She tapped her foot impatiently. "I said, do you want another beer?" She made sure he understood she was angry at him. "I'm busy, you know?"

Elazul scanned the bar. No more than three tables had customers. He sighed, brushing his hair away from his face. "Sure... Why not?"

Two minutes later Rachel returned with his beer. Tossing it on the table, causing some of it to spill. She, of course, wasn't going to clean it.

"Bitter much?" He was starting to feel annoyed with her attitude.

The girl pulled a face, her hands resting on her hips. "I don't like you!"

Well, that was blunt of her. "Yeah, whatever." He decided it was best to ignore her and enjoy his beer.

But now, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

She sighed irritably. "I hope you at least came back here to apologize!"

It was Elazul's turn to shoot her an annoyed look. "Fine! If that will get you off my back... Sorry for yelling at you that time! Happy?!"

The girl seemed to be even angrier. Just great. "Not me! I'm not the one you left behind inside a dark cave!"

Ah, now he knew what she was talking about. The name of that two bladed warrior being... "Rhea?" He was genuinely confused by this. "She's skilled. We had already killed most of the monsters, so I knew she'd be fine alone. She didn't come across as the type who needed an escort."

Rachel shook her head impatiently. "Not under normal circumstances! But did you really think it was ok to leave her behind bleeding the way she was?"

Elazul raised his gaze from the rain outside to her. His confusion was hard to disguise. "She was..." He shook his head. "Are you sure?"

The waitress raised an eyebrow at the foolish question. "My dad was the one who found her unconscious on a path about half an hour away from here. She was lucky. Very, very lucky. She lost so much blood, I don't even know how she..."

 _Survived._ The word was never spoken, leaving an uncomfortable silence lingering about. Elazul couldn't believe it himself. How did he not see? Or was the evidence there but he was too caught up yelling at Pearl? It wasn't easy to absorb all of this new information at one.

"Is she alright now?" It was all he could ask and hope for.

Rachel simply nodded and folded her arms in front of her. "She opened the scar on her back, that's why it bled so much... We found her like this almost a year and a half ago. Unconscious and with that nasty scar that just won't fully heal."

"You found her?" The young knight was intrigued. "She's not from Domina?"

The girl pulled another face, hinting she wasn't supposed to be sharing such information with strangers, but replied anyway. "We never saw her before. But don't bother asking either, she doesn't like to share personal info. She only told us her name once she recovered, found a steady payment working for Niccolo and settled herself on the abandoned tree house outside of Domina."

"Interesting," the Jumi murmured, watching the rain clear outside. "I guess I should apologize to her then. I never noticed her wound, but even so, I should have left the cavern together with her."

Rachel fully agreed. She quickly explained him how to get to her house. A very straightforward path really. He doubted he could get lost.

He rose from his seat and gave Rachel some lucre. "Perhaps she even knows something about..." He felt foolish having to admit it. "...Pearl."

Rachel eyed him dully. "You know... you're a terrible bodyguard."

Elazul shoved her aside and left the bar. The girl will never know just how close from having her bar destroyed she got from her smart remark. Elazul sighed to calm himself down. He was just glad to be outside... despite the gray clouds hanging over the outer edges of the town.

 **X**

As Elazul opened the gate to Rhea's house, he couldn't help but admire how amazing it looked. There were three paths that led further around the terrain. Making him wonder just how big the house really was. There was a Sprouting near the entrance that greeted him with a smile. He promptly ignored it and proceeded to knock on the door.

Nothing.

He knocked on the door one more time and again no sound came from the other side. She most likely wasn't home at that time. Just his luck.

He went ahead and tried to see inside thru a window. No candles were lit, but the house seemed to have been used not that long ago.

"Who goes there!?" The voice startled him to turn around and grab the hilt of his sword. But it was just a kid. "Who dares to spy on the house of Bud, the maleficent!?"

The knight immediately let go of the hilt. His eyes met the one he was looking for – Rhea. There she stood at the gate, with two kids and a... dog? Or was that a small wolf? Either way, the four of them were wet from head to toe. One of the kids, the girl, was holding a broken broom and seemed greatly depressed about it. He heard the boy shout something towards him, but he couldn't understand.

"It's ok Bud," Rhea pulled the boy back. "I know him."

She led the way to the door, with the twins and the pet carefully following behind her. Elazul approached, ignoring her distant look. "Rhea I..."

"No, I have not seen her around." She was quick to shut him. "Don't bother searching east. We just came from there and didn't bump into her."

The young Jumi swallowed at her cold tone. She opened and entered the house with everyone following her inside. Bud sticking his tongue out at him before entering. To his surprise, none of them closed the door, so it wasn't like he was uninvited to enter or anything.

He stood at the door and watched inside. Rhea was rearranging her hair sticks to pull her hair up into a very messy bun. Her pet was at a corner licking his white fur, while the elf girl placed her broom on the table and began crying.

Bud took the broom in his hands and gave it a critical eye. "Don't worry Lisa! I'll fix it!"

Elazul admired how self assured the boy was. He entered the house and closed the door behind him when Rhea gave him an odd stare. She quickly ignored his presence again and proceeded to take the broom from Bud's hands.

"This is Bud and Lisa. And over there that's Fenrir." Rhea introduced them, not taking her eyes away from the broom. "That guy over there is Azul."

"Elazul..." he corrected her.

She hit herself on the head once and laughed. "Oh, right... Sorry about that!"

"You a mage?" The question came from Bud, sitting on the edge of the table.

"No." The look on the kid's face demanded a more elaborate answer. "I'm a knight."

Lisa's sobs were all he could hear, as the male kid suddenly lost all interest in him. The Jumi decided not to talk until they were done with what had to be a very special broom. He crossed his arms and leaned against a wall watching Rhea grab some string and taking her time to wrap it around where the broom had snapped, until she felt it was secure enough.

By now Lisa had finally stopped crying and held on to Rhea's side. She was smiling, and there was excitement in her voice every time she said something to the older girl. Bud yawned and seemed bored out of his mind. Elazul lost count of how many times he went up and down that dinning table.

"Um... I believe this will hold it in place." Rhea inspected her work. "Bud, think you could bend these cracks together? It will make it sturdier."

The boy took the broom, carefully eyed the small cracks and smiled proudly. "No problem! Lisa, come with me!"

He didn't need to repeat himself. Lisa was up and running out the door behind her brother. Elazul merely stared them off and closed the door once he noticed they forgot to.

"So," Finally he could talk to Rhea alone. "You were quick in telling me about Pearl."

Rhea drew him a confused look. "She's not with you is she? Why else would you be at my place if not to ask for her whereabouts?"

Elazul cursed to himself. Damn she was sharp. "That's only part of the reason why I'm here, to be honest."

"Oh?" The two bladed warrior removed her drenched boots, not feeling very pleased with her wet cold feet. "The other reason being?"

The Jumi groaned. Delaying his words as much as he could. "I'm sorry..."

Rhea shot him an amused look as she proceeded to remove her arm warmers. "For what?"

He sighed exasperatedly. "For making you leave that cavern alone... I didn't know you had a fragile wound, much less it opened during the battle."

The blonde girl rose from her chair seemingly annoyed. "People talk too much." She dismissed a thought with a hand. "What else did they tell you about me?"

Elazul shrugged his shoulders. "Not much. Just how they found you and that you now work for some Niccolo guy."

"Rabbit. Not a guy, a rabbit." She walked around the table until she stood in front of Elazul. "What's the name of your jewel?"

At first the Jumi was surprised by the question, only he remembered she already knew what he was. "It's a Lapis Lazuli..."

"A lapis knight." She was talking to herself. He noticed her face becoming a concerned one. "I... should have told you this before you left with Pearl." Rhea suddenly shot him a furious look. "But you yell too much! And I became angry myself and forgot!"

The knight escaped her gaze. "I had my reasons! I won't apologize for that." His blue eyes met hers again. "What did you want to say?"

Rhea took a deep breath to forget the event. She heard Fenrir run upstairs to her room. Darn wolf was going to wet the upstairs floor as well, and worse, her bed.

"Have you heard of the jewel hunter?"

Elazul looked at her with great agitation. "People have been hunting us for ages... Is this one different?"

Rhea turned her back on him, hugging herself. Elazul saw the white silk covering her back where most likely her wound was. "This one is very determined to see your race become extinct... Her name is Sandra. She wears a green dress and has two large flowers on her head." She faced him once again. "Although that doesn't really matter, for she's a master of disguise. She also leaves a note for her victims before attacking."

The lapis knight walked passed her furious. She watched him pace back and forth in her dining area for a while, before he decided to sit on a chair to calm down.

"Pearl is out there again..." His fist met the table. "And now you tell me there's someone determined to hunt us down to extinction!? You sure know how to brighten anyone's day!"

"It's not my intention to make you happy or sad. I just thought it was important for you Jumi to know this. She..." Rhea hesitated and Elazul's core noticed. "She's dangerous."

She wasn't lying, but she omitted her original thought. He didn't care, he needed to get out there and start looking for Pearl.

"I'm leaving." He clumsy rose from the chair, knocking it to the ground. He grunted and didn't bother to pick it up.

Rhea rolled her eyes at his childish attitude when opening the door for him to leave. "I'll keep an eye out for her." She assured him.

Their eyes met one last time before he walked away.

 **A/N:** I know, I know... There's no need to tell me this chapter was full of dialogue. Meh, I needed this before the next one! :D

Oh Rachel... so shy and scared on the first chapter and so angry and fearless on the third... I knew I was going to struggle with her! Also, I will be focusing a bit on Bud and Lisa on this chapter and the next. I really want you, the readers, to understand just how close they are to Rhea.


	4. Voices From The Mist

_The man was there, looking down at the lifeless body, wearing a blank expression before a twisted smile came to his face. Her lavender eyes cracked open, she refused to look at him, she couldn't look at him, she just couldn't. So much blood... The priestess body sliced in half... she could no longer feel her own pain. Mom... Mom help me... I'm scared... please..._

"Master!"

"Rhea... Rhea, wake up!"

Rhea flew her eyes open. She couldn't move, her body was shaking in fear, her breathing felt heavy and her heartbeat drummed to a frenetic beating. Bud and Lisa were on her bed, their faces ever so concerned. She heard Lisa run downstairs and back up again. The little elf girl placed a glass of water on a nearby table and watched Rhea for a while longer.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rhea finally felt control over her own body. Slowly, and very carefully, she managed to pull herself into a sitting position. Bud and Lisa shouted numerous questions but she couldn't hear them, not with that horrible loud chime inside her head. She took a deep concentrated breath.

"Water..." She succeeded to whisper.

Between their confused rant, the twins somehow heard her plea and Lisa handed her the glass filled with water, which Rhea drank in one go. The chime seemed to go away for now. Rhea fell down on her bed again, placing her arm above her eyes. Bud and Lisa didn't seem to protest this and there was glorious silence. The darkness provided by her arm consumed the gore images in her head. After a while, she was able to remove it and rub her temples.

"I hate dreaming..." Her voice sounded normal again.

The twins eyed one another, deciding rather or not they should tell her. It was Lisa the one that made the final call. "You were calling your mother..."

Rhea blinked in surprise. Getting up from bed in a hurry and deliberately ignoring their unasked question. The twins were already used to this, so they went down stairs as she got ready.

The three sat down for breakfast and talked as though nothing had happened. The main topic being that, apparently some feathers were starting to grow around Fenrir's neck. The wolf was almost two weeks old since it hatched from the egg Pearl gave Rhea. And since that day, he hadn't stopped growing. His appetite was quite large too. Rhea had to purposely go out and hunt for him. She couldn't wait for him to be big enough to do that by himself.

"By the way," Lisa started, smiling sheepishly. Rhea knew that smirk, it meant trouble. "Think we could go to Gato? The nuns there have some spells we would love to see!"

Rhea didn't even attempt to disguise her distaste. "Gato..." The ruby knight flashed in her mind. "Isn't there any other place we could go? How about Geo? We've never been there."

It was Bud's turn to pull a face. "I don't want to return to Geo! Ever! They shall regret the day they allowed such a great mage as I to walk away."

Lisa eyed her brother critically. "Bud, you were exp..."

"Silence! I was the greatest wizard they ever had!"

Suddenly, that damned chime seemed better than to listen to those evil twins argue with one another. Bud was always way in over his head, but Lisa never cut him some slack either. She was just as hard headed as her brother. As for Rhea, her biggest flaw fell on her patience – she had none.

"Enough!" Her hands hit the table as she rose from her seat, the twins yelping in surprise. "Let's go to Gato then. But on one condition... No arguing the way there!"

"Yes, master!" They agreed in perfect synch.

Never had Rhea seen them move so fast and so efficiently. From washing the dishes, giving Trent some seeds and swiping the floor. It almost made Rhea feel very unproductive with her bag filled with food and water for the journey.

 **X**

Gato was about four hours away from home. They had to cross Luon Highway and that road was longer than it seemed. Plus one had to count with the occasional monster and how much time they could waste on one. Rhea had noticed before, when they went to the junkyard to retrieve Lisa's broom that Fenrir had so conveniently taken, that their magic skills had improved greatly since she took them in nearly a year ago. She could almost stop worrying about their visits to the junkyard to retrieve objects to practice their magic on. Although, she wasn't sure she liked this idea of them growing up so fast and not need her.

"Wow!" Lisa chirped.

Amazing was another word to perfectly describe Gato. Although when first entering the city, most people did stick with 'wow'. The mood in the air was calm and peaceful. Making Rhea sadly wonder how this was possible, considering what happened there not even a month ago. She thought if her friend Daena was there. Well, if she was, she was most likely at the temple guarding her friend... Matilda, was that how she called her?

"Hey!" Bud broke all thoughts. "It's that guy from yesterday!"

Lisa and Rhea followed his hand pointing towards a far too familiar cloaked man. Rhea couldn't believe the odds.

"Oh yeah! Azul!" Lisa called.

"Stop it!" Rhea panicked.

"What? You said you knew him right? Hey, Azul guy!" Bud shouted louder.

"That doesn't mean I want to deal with him now, you evil turds!" Rhea blushed, feeling deeply embarrassed when Elazul took notice of them.

It was hard to miss really. Two kids yelling and waving their arms around aimlessly at the entrance of the city? He and anyone around clearly saw them.

Elazul scratched the back of his head, wondering what they were doing there. Though, the best way to know would be to approach and ask. And so he did.

"I will kick your butts so hard when we get home..." Rhea was dead serious.

The twins ignored her and smiled when the lapis knight finally reached them. Fenrir wagged its tail like never before.

"What brings you here?" He asked with little emotion.

"Hi Azul!" Lisa waved to get his attention. "Remember me? I'm Lisa!"

"Hi! You couldn't possibly have forgotten me, the greatest magician your eyes ever laid on?"

"Hi!" Rhea decided to join the fun greeting. She already felt embarrassed anyway. "And I'm Rhea! And this is Fenrir!" The wolf barked.

Elazul almost felt his jaw drop to the ground. "... aren't you the lively bunch?" Their smiles only freaked him out. "Goddess... Hi. It's actually Elazul and not 'Azul'..."

"What are you doing in Gato, Azul?" Lisa asked. Rhea hiding a laugh.

Elazul shot her a hard look, that she replied with a shrug and a smile. "Looking for someone..."

"No luck yet?" Rhea asked. "No one saw a woman in a white dress?"

"Oh, they saw many." He waved an arm around, showing all the nuns walking around the city.

Rhea played with a lock of her hair. "Right... What makes you think she's here?"

The young knight avoided her stare to feel less awkward about his situation. "Nothing... I was in Lake Kilma yesterday and no luck over there either. But my core felt something towards this direction, so I thought that maybe..." He shook his head. "Forget it, it's none of your business. What brings you here?"

"None of your business." Rhea replied in the same tone.

The twins laughed like the little kids they were. Elazul fumed with rage. Rhea was sure that if the twins weren't there, he would've drawn his sword at her by now. Instead, he stormed away in fury without uttering a single word.

"Azul!" Lisa yelled. "Come by the house with your missing friend some other time ok? Rhea cooks a great steak!"

"Bye Azul!" Bud waved him off.

Rhea's stomach hurt from laughing, but deep down she also felt bad for the Jumi knight. After all, she dealt with the twins on a daily basis. "You two want to go to the temple, right?"

"Yes." Bud was quick to answer. "The nuns over there should know what we want!"

"Very well, let's go then."

As soon as they began walking up the slope that lead to a fork, Rhea caught a glimpse of her friend Daena near an edge. Her back was turned to her, but she could feel the feline was worried. She whistled to grab Bud and Lisa's attention.

"Take a left at the fork. That's where the temple is. I have to check on a friend ok?"

The two didn't seem to care what she was doing and followed her instructions. Rhea watched the twins leave her sight and began pacing towards Daena. The feline woman seemed to be gazing at the horizon. The wind that slowly brushed her fur, provided her with a cool yet concerned look.

Rhea noticed her ears twitch as she approached. "Daena." She called with joy.

But the cat woman only replied with a cold stare. Her other emotion being distaste when noticing Fenrir. "You're here. It's been a while since your last visit."

"It doesn't feel like that long ago to me..."

Daena took the hint and said no more. Gazing towards the horizon once again. Rhea stood beside her, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see whatever it was her feline friend was admiring.

"Do you know about the tower of Leires?" Daena suddenly asked, not shifting her gaze.

Rhea seemed to wonder about it for a moment. "That's the tower built by mages during the Faery war, is it not?"

The feline nodded once. "Yes, that's the one. Matilda sensed something has disturbed the tower. However, she doesn't know how many, if it's even human or not."

The two bladed warrior smiled at the unasked question. "You want to investigate it with me?"

To her surprise, the cat woman sighed heavily. "I can't... I don't like leaving Matilda alone for too long. I want to go, but that would mean leaving her at the care of the nuns. And if something were to happen during that time..." She shook her head, feeling frustrated with herself. "I would never forgive myself."

"Then I'll go." Rhea simply said. "Since you're looking that way. I assume it's north of Gato, right?"

Daena hissed when Fenrir sniffed her. "No. We don't know what's disturbing the tower. It could be dangerous."

Rhea couldn't help but laugh. Daena didn't know her at all. "Of course it could be dangerous. What was I thinking? I'm such a helpless little girl."

Daena finally cracked a smile. Remembering the two of them battling monsters in the Luon Highway when they went to visit Gaeus. At that time, she did admire the female's way of battling.

"You're right." She had to admit. And out of anyone in the city, Rhea was the only one she could trust for the job. "Just head straight north and you can't miss such an imposing building. But," And Daena eyed her seriously. "If anything gets out of hand, you leave that place immediately. You hear?"

Rhea waved her off. "Yes, yes. Fenrir will be there to protect me." The wolf seemed to agree.

 **X**

There was something about Leires Tower that made Rhea feel very uncomfortable. She didn't know how to put it in words, but it was as though a voice was calling her. She couldn't identify the voice as being male or female. It just called her in a peaceful melody.

"Leires..."

This voice on the other hand was definitely female. Soft and fragile. Rhea tried to pinpoint its location, but the fog that lurked around the tower made that task difficult. Fenrir's nose, however, had no problem identifying the source and ran into the fog. All Rhea heard next was a scared scream.

"Fenrir, no!" She ran after her wolf and luckily didn't loose him in the fog. Once she caught up with him, a great shock took over her.

He wasn't biting or attacking the new figure. Instead, he sat in front of her, wagging his tail like he always did. The girl was cowering in fear, but soon relaxed and adjusted the hem of her white dress.

"I'm sorry... I get carried away in my own thoughts..." Rhea wondered if she hoped Fenrir would reply her. Eventually her shy eyes met Rhea and she too was overcome with surprise. "Rhea..."

"What are you doing here, Pearl." She approached, petting Fenrir to assure her he was harmless.

"Just... wondering..." Clearly she wasn't going to elaborate her answer. "Oh, thanks for finding me in the cave, but I've been separated from Elazul again..."

Rhea sighed. "It's ok, he's here in Gato. You should hurry back to him. He's really worried about you."

The warrior never expected Pearl to shake her head in defiance. "No. I feel like the tower is calling me. I have to go..."

Her words left Rhea puzzled. On the bright side, she wasn't the only one hearing voices from the tower. She felt determination inside that frail looking body and sad eyes. She didn't know why, but something in her told her not to leave the girl alone.

"Then let's enter the tower together. I have to check on something as well."

Pearl placed both hands on her core. "Thank you, Rhea."

 **A/N:** Next chapter, we'll be bonding with Pearl! :) Hope you are enjoying this so far.


	5. Confronting the Past

They were ascending the steps to the second floor of the keep. Stones thrust up through the floor like worn fangs and teeth and at the far end half, hidden by a ragged outcropping, Rhea could see the faint glow of a fire. Pearl could feel her breath coming in quicker as she slowly approached the hidden flames. A sense of worry coursed through her as she found a perfectly ordinary fireplace housing a roaring blaze.

"What is it?" Pearl's voice was barely audible.

Rhea studied the room critically. "Someone else is here..." Her hand reached one of her daggers, testing if something would attack them. "This fireplace was just recently lit, but I can tell it has been used for a few hours now. Keep your core alert as we go up."

Apparently what Rhea actually said was 'walk as close to me as you can'. The girl was practically glued to her back, only backing away to hide when a monster would appear. By the time they reached the fifth floor, Pearl caused her to stumble on her own feet so many times she'd lost count. It was getting on her nerves too.

However, and Rhea had to admit, she was glad she wasn't climbing that tower alone. The monsters in there frightened her in more ways she could ever hope to admit...

" _Stay back, Pearl!" Rhea shouted, finding a rhythm in the armored monster moving towards them._

 _Fenrir growled next to her, running ahead to bite the armor's arm. Rhea took the distraction to jump ahead and slice the monster's head off... only, there was no head to slice. It was empty. But what was truly amazing, was that the monster still raised its sword ready to attack._

" _Oh. Dear. Goddess... Pearl, run!"_

And that was how they embarrassingly got to the second floor. Running from their enemies. The female warrior only felt reassured of her abilities again, when a swarm of bats came down on them, and Rhea killed them all in a vortex of slice and dice. Fenrir did his part as well, carrying one of said bats in his mouth and taking it to Pearl as a friendship offering. Only, this disgusted and frightened the shorter girl.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Pearl inquired, still keeping herself really close to her new guardian.

Rhea scanned the room like she always did in every floor. Only this time she felt lost. They couldn't get further up in the tower. No stairs that could lead them ahead despite the fact that the tower still had more floors to explore. "Here and there." Her eyes rested on a very large door. "Let's check that place out."

The iron door was heavy, and Rhea had to call Pearl for assistance. Once again, the girl surprised her. How could such a fragile looking body pack so much strength? The doors opened slowly but surely. Inside, a transparent looking crystal pulsed in the middle of the room. Rhea eyed Pearl but this one shook her head.

"It's not a Jumi core, but..." She walked to the crystal and laid a hand on its irregular surface.

Rhea shrieked when the doors closed and the room began moving. Fenrir growling and barking at the invisible enemy.

"It's alright!" Pearl assured them. "I've seen this before... it will transport us higher into the tower."

Rhea sat on the ground, realizing she hadn't rested since she left home. "How about a little warning before doing something like that?"

"Sorry..." Her voice broke, feeling guilty.

It was amazing how she couldn't stay mad at Pearl for long. Her innocence melted even the coldest heart. "Pearl, what are you looking for in this tower?" Rhea had wondered for a while now, what Pearl was doing in a place like that... alone.

The Jumi girl studied the crystal in the room, seemingly interested in the origin if its power. "I... You will think I'm stupid..." Her cheeks became that of a deep red tone.

Rhea sighed. It was like talking to a child. She had Bud and Lisa for that. "Try me. I might be able to help you search whatever it is you're looking for."

Pearl hesitated at first, and then shook her head. "It's not a good idea to bring others into our problems."

"Oh," Rhea shot her an aggravated look. "I guess I do radiate a threatening aura after all. I remember you being very untrustworthy of me back in the cave as well." She smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Guess I'm only good as a 'last resort'. Like now."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

The room came to a sudden stop. Both girls watched the heavy doors open by themselves. Rhea got herself up, pulling a face at how tired her legs felt. She proceeded to dust her skirt and called Fenrir to check the outside room with her. Once she was sure their path was secured, she called Pearl.

Rhea calculated them being on the eight or ninth floor, but they still had a few more steps to go. Luckily, each floor was almost exactly the same, so by now Rhea already knew how to move up with ease. A few more monsters blocked their way, and to their misfortune, Rhea was there to clear them out.

The two bladed warrior smiled once she realized they were one floor away from the top. She also guessed whoever had been in the tower had already left.

"My past..." Pearl's voice caught Rhea off guard. She waited for her new guardian to meet her gaze. "For the longest time, I feel like I don't belong here... that there's something not quite right with me." Her eyes were sad and filled with hope that Rhea could understand her. "I don't know who I am... I don't remember what I was... All I know is that Elazul found me unconscious and has been taking care of me ever since." Pearl hugged herself, shifting her gaze to the floor. "I need to know... Elazul says it's dangerous, but I need to know."

Pearl waited what felt like an eternity, but her guardian never spoke. She understood why once she found the courage to meet her strangely colored eyes. She was just standing there, eyes not really focusing on anything and there was this sadness... this sadness of someone who actually did know what she meant with her words and concerns. A spark of hope lit inside Pearl.

"Sometimes, it's best to leave the past in the past." Those weren't the words Pearl wanted to hear. "Perhaps it's best for you not to remember what you were... maybe you're lucky not to remember... And start your whole life from scratch."

"Do you?"

Her sudden question puzzled the young warrior. "Do I what?"

Pearl rested a hand on her core. "Do you remember your past?"

Rhea shifted her gaze away. Pearl could feel anger in her. "All too well."

The shorter girl walked closer, her white dress graciously flowing around her. "Then you are what you are because you remember. Because you know. I can't-" It was Pearl's turn to look away. "I can't be myself if I don't remember where I came from. Who was I? What's my story?"

Pearl came back to reality when Rhea placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You're Pearl. What matters is who you are now and if you are happy with your life." She let go of Pearl and sighed. "But I understand... I'll take you to the room of fate if that's what you want."

Surprise took over Pearl. "How do you know about that room?"

Rhea couldn't help but smirk. "I know this tower."

 **X**

The two walked towards the final floor with only a few monsters blocking their way – Rhea taking care of them without breaking a sweat. She allowed Fenrir to participate in the battles, to see if the wolf would get used to killing its prey.

Like she had done before, Rhea scanned the eleventh floor for any signs of danger while Pearl approached the massive door in the center of the room.

The young Jumi, ever so gently and with a hint of nervousness, rested a hand flat against the door while reaching inside her core to determine what could be on the other side. "The room of fate lies beyond the door. Everyone must face their past..." Rhea noticed the determined look in Pearl's eyes before she noticed her approaching. "I'm sorry, Rhea. Run if it gets dangerous..."

The warrior's mouth dropped in disbelief. Just who did she think brought her there? Fought all those monsters that surely would have killed her? And now that she'd reached her destination... _Run if it gets dangerous?!_ Rhea sure felt stupid for helping her out. Now she understood why Elazul yelled at her.

Rhea would've turned her back and leave under any other circumstances, however her good side spoke louder and she couldn't just leave Pearl behind. Not after going thru all that trouble. She swallowed her pride and followed the young girl inside the room.

The area was abandoned just like everything else in the tower. Only, that particular room radiated a different kind of aura... a magical one. One that allowed anyone to see into their past. There, in the center of the room, a dark knight rose. Her face, astonishingly mistakable for Pearl's.

"You're the guard?" Her core shined and to their surprise so did the black knight's. "Please... tell me. I want to know my own past."

A large hammer materialized in the taller woman's hand. The hammer rose and struck the floor with a force that knocked Pearl away. Rhea rushed to the girl's aid noticing the image of the dark knight vanishing and a bone chilling roar echo in her place. Eleven feet tall and seven wide, an angry towering Iron Centaur rose before Rhea.

"Run!" Was all Rhea could shout, swiftly drawing her blades.

Rhea set her feet under her, and took a measure of the monster, ready to spring aside in an instant. She could sense the thing's power, the raw strength of every muscle hidden away behind iron armor. A lumbering arm, holding an impressive ax, swung out in a wide arc, whooshing above Rhea's ducking head and slamming into the room wall, crushing rocks into dust.

"Fenrir protect Pearl!" Rhea instructed her pet wolf when sensing him rushing towards her. As the centaur recoiled its arm, Rhea poked a blade in one of the wholes in its armor, chipping away a small chunk of flesh – barely a scratch. The iron centaur grimaced in pain and that told Rhea she could indeed hurt it, so there was a chance for her.

The monster launched another blow, and another, and Rhea dived forward and scrambled through the thing's armored pillar horse legs. The centaur reacted quickly and stomped heavily with one foot, barely missing the agile warrior, and sending branching cracks in the floor for many feet in either direction.

Rhea was up in a flash, slicing and thrusting with both her blades into the centaur's backside, then springing back out of reach as the monster swung about, leading with another ferocious blow. The monster stomped again, the thunder of its foot nearly knocking Rhea from her feet, and it came in hard, falling down at Rhea, using the tonnage of its body as a weapon. She managed to get to the side of the monster's bulk, while taking only a glancing blow from a swinging arm.

Dust rushed up from the terrific impact, room walls and ceiling cracked and dropped flecks and stones to the floor. As the centaur regained its feet, Rhea backed away, overwhelmed by such unconquerable strength. She was alone against it, or so Rhea thought. A sudden ball of light fury enveloped the centaur's head, claws raking deep scratches into its face – now exposed from the knocked out helmet.

"Fenrir!" Rhea cried, a stream of questions rushing inside her head.

The centaur bellowed in pain, its cry sounding as the rumble of huge boulders crashing down a rocky mountain. Even as Rhea moved back in to help her wolf friend, the monster spun, impossibly quick, and dived headfirst into the floor.

"No!" Rhea yelled, realizing that Fenrir would be crushed.

Her painful shout must have alerted the wolf, for it leaped away from the monster's head at the very last second. The centaur crushed the floor with its head, sending bits and pieces flying everywhere. Anger grew inside of the beast, and it managed to punch Fenrir against a wall, the wolf cried in pain and was unable to get up.

Rhea once again shouted, only now she was angry. She looked back to the centaur, unafraid. "You are dead." She promised, and she walked in.

The centaur seemed confused, though of course it could not understand Rhea's words. It dropped a heavy ax straight down to cut its foolish opponent. Rhea did not even raise her blades to parry, knowing that every ounce of her strength could not possibly deflect such a blow. Just as the falling ax was about to reach her, she dashed forward, within its range.

The quickness of her move surprised the centaur, and the ensuing flurry of swordplay took Pearl's breath away. The young Jumi had never seen such grace in battle, such fluidity of motion. Rhea climbed up and down the centaur's body, hacking and slashing, digging the points of her weapons home and flicking off pieces of the monster's flesh.

The iron centaur howled and spun in circles, trying to catch up do Rhea and squash her once and for all. Blind anger brought new levels of experience to the magnificent young swords dancer.

"Impossible..." Pearl muttered when she found her breath.

Rhea had the centaur lurching to one side, and with the last of her strength, landed a sword in the centaur's brain. The iron centaur finally fell to his demise.

Pearl's legs trembled in fear, but her eyes mirrored all of her amazement towards the female warrior. She picked herself up from her hiding place and rushed to Rhea's aid. Her arms instinctively held her warrior in place – she seemed nearly ready to collapse from fatigue.

"I was so scared..." Her words came out trembling. She was sure the two of them were going to die right there and then. "Huh?" Her thoughts were interrupted by her core shinning ever so brightly. "My core..."

Now that the monster wasn't in a roaring rampage after Rhea, did they realize someone had been banging and trying to force the doors open. Finally a crack opened, and the person thundered inside in great agony.

"Pearl!" The two recognized that angered voice, it was Elazul. The Jumi ran to the girls, a look of shock when noticing the destruction made inside the room and the defeated iron centaur. "What happened here? I thought I told you not to wonder around!"

Pearl cowered. "I'm sorry! If I try to remember something..."

"Not... now..." Rhea's whisper managed to catch their attention. "Fenrir..."

It took a moment for Elazul to understand, then he noticed Rhea's pet wolf struggling to stand up. He carefully walked towards the animal, analyzing his body for injuries. The wolf limped, and there was a small wound on the left side of his hip, but other than that he seemed to recompose himself. The lapis knight allowed Fenrir to sniff him, and approached once the wolf tailed him it was ok to come closer.

"Small injury," He eyed Rhea to assure her of his words. "He'll be fine. Just wash it clean and it will probably heal itself in a few days."

A sign of relief left Rhea. Elazul helped the still small wolf in the first few steps, before he brushed off and started walking normal again. As for the knight, he still wasn't done with them.

"Now... What happened?"

Rhea was visibly too tired to mutter a single word, she would probably fall if Pearl would let go of her. It was up to Pearl to explain the details. She told Elazul everything. How Rhea found her and helped her reach the last floor of the tower, the image she saw inside the room of fate and how Rhea valiantly defeated the enemy.

Elazul eyed multiple times between the giant centaur and the poor image that was Rhea right now. He just couldn't believe it. "Alone?" He repeatedly asked. "She defeated that tower of a monster all by herself?"

"Well..." Pearl was unsure of what else to say. She would have a hard time believing it too should she not have witnessed everything with her own eyes. "At a certain point in battle, Fenrir jumped in and attacked the monster. Only, once he was thrown away, that's when Rhea really became angry and killed the centaur."

Elazul's head shook in disbelief. But if Pearl said so, then it was undoubtedly true. "Thanks again... Let's go!"

Rhea was tossed from Pearl into Elazul's arms like dead weight. She hated that.

"Don't you even dare!" She warned the knight who tried to pick her up bridal style. "I will hit you once I recover!"

Elazul rolled his eyes, but fortunately he knew a thing or two about warrior pride. Instead, he pulled her left arm around his neck and grabbed her waist with his right arm. Rhea felt a sudden blood rush on her cheeks, as she could feel the warmth of his body against hers even with their clothes separating them. She attempted to hide her embarrassment with her long hair covering her face.

"Umm..." Rhea's eyes rose to a very shy and blushing image of Pearl. "Thank you for helping me. Again."

Rhea allowed herself to a snicker. "Aren't you glad I didn't turn away?"

Elazul secured her well and began pacing towards the door. As he slowly reached the door, he felt a pull on his shirt belonging to Pearl.

"What?" He turned around feeling frustrated from a lack of a reply.

Both his and Pearl's eyes were wide in shock – they became speechless. Flickering noises continued burning the imposing, but still smaller image that was the Mana Tree. Its roots absorbing the body of the dead iron centaur. The flames spread and consumed the tree. Leaving behind bone chilling screams.

"The Mana Tree?" Elazul bit his lower lip in an attempt to control his thoughts. "Why is this memory here? It makes no sense."

Pearl was in utter shock, hands in mouth to muffle away any frightened sound. Rhea battled to raise her head, hissing at the vision of the burning three-dimensional figure.

"Must be an old memory... This room is broken from all these centuries."

The lapis knight shook his head, turning around to leave that eerie room. "Pearl, let's go."


	6. The Hunter

In the Tower of Leires, mostly forgotten by all of Fa'diel, three human forms struggled to walk down the floors. The tower was made of stone, once polished to a soft shine that reflected the light; now dulled to a faint glimmer. Serpentine dragon statues led the way around the tower, frills flaring from their heads. The Jumi knight raised his great sword, slashing a vampire monster to its death.

"I swear by the Goddess, I will make you suffer for this!" Rhea struggled to her feet with the help of a very concerned petite girl. "Do you know in how much pain I am? How much of my strength I had to use to kill that beast of a centaur?! Every single inch of my body hurts you idiot! Stop dropping me!"

Elazul shot the two bladed warrior a similar angered look. "If I don't kill the monsters, then who will?!" He proceeded to point an accusing finger at the beaten-up girl. "Certainly not you!"

A frustrated scream left Rhea, since at the time she couldn't punch him. "You're welcome for keeping your guardian alive! I have to stop helping you people if this is the thanks I get!"

"Don't flatter yourself," the lapis knight walked to where she was. "It's your own damn fault for looking like that! You shouldn't have brought Pearl here in the first place!"

Said Pearl cowered at a safe distance from the two. Never had she felt so blameworthy and futile in her life. Because of the monsters that still lurked inside the tower, Elazul had to keep letting go of Rhea to fight them off. She, having her muscles sore from the recent fight, began getting annoyed and yelled at Elazul. Only Elazul, not known for having the nicest attitude, snapped back at her since he was the one that had to do everything alone. They couldn't count on Pearl for anything, not to fight, not even to carry Rhea outside the tower – she was utterly useless.

"... annoy you, then just leave me behind!" They were still bickering at each other. "You've done it before, so it's no big deal!"

The knight tightened his grip on the sword. "And risk hearing that Rachel girl? You have no idea how pesky she can be!"

"Just don't go back to Domina!" Rhea pulled a face when her legs threatened to give up.

Elazul reached out an arm to grab her. A heavy and frustrated sigh followed. "I really wish I didn't have to touch you right now."

"The feeling is mutual." Rhea said bitterly, wishing she could support herself in Pearl instead. "Just get us out of here fast, and this will all be just a horrible nightmare."

The lapis knight seemed to agree. He once again secured Rhea, but never again made eye contact with her. Fenrir, had long given up barking at their yells and was now leading the way out. As for Pearl, all it took was an angry stare from Elazul to make her run to them.

"Y-yes..." Her voice was fragile. "I'll be careful."

It wasn't clear if the Goddess herself was weary with the sappy arguments between Elazul and Rhea, but reality was that the number of monsters had diminished significantly. Especially after the group went down the elevator room.

The teleporting crystal... Pearl felt as though their way down went by much slower than when her knight was absent. There was a deafening silence between Elazul and young Rhea. A silence so heavy, that a sword could cut through. A silence filled with mixed emotions.

When the group reached the third floor, Pearl wished for those two to start arguing again. Anything to break that uncomfortable feeling. Fenrir, Rhea's small white wolf, proudly kept guiding the group to the tower's exit. Growling every time he felt a menace nearby, which gave Elazul time to entrust Rhea to Pearl. This, at least, had weakened the tension between the two.

Pearl almost fell under the weight that was Rhea, while Elazul killed his enemies. She seemed to become more and more tired and her entire body trembled from the pain. It was hard to believe that that young girl had single handily defeated the iron centaur.

Sweat drops drew Elazul's face that, by the time they reached the ground floor, dragged Rhea's body as if it were a dead corpse.

"Rhea," it was the first time he uttered a word to her after their fight. "We're almost out. Hang on just a bit longer..."

No answer left Rhea's lips, her semi-opened eyes the only indication of her still being alive. Fenrir frightened them all when it began barking uncontrollably out of nowhere. Pearl covered her ears and noticed a letter fall down to her feet.

"What was that?" She looked around, reaching for the fallen letter. "A note?"

Elazul felt a growing agitation inside Pearl as she read the letter, remembering what Rhea warned him about the day before. The knight placed the two bladed warrior on a safe corner, entrusting the wolf to protect her from the woman wearing a green dress descending in front of them from a rope.

"I've wanted to meet you!" There was arrogance in the woman's voice. She looked exactly as Rhea had described, which meant she made no effort to conceal her identity. Sandra, the jewel hunter.

"No..." Pearl went ahead and protected herself behind Elazul who by the time already held his great sword.

The Jumi knight critically eyed the woman with the far too confident smirk. "You're Sandra aren't you? Leave us Jumi alone or your life is mine!"

Sandra's confidence seemed to have shaken a little. "You have heard of me?" Her menacing eyes met Rhea who struggled to get up on her feet. "I see... You Jumi seem to be attracted to this girl for some reason. Such poor judgment. She can't help you!"

Elazul gestured Pearl to hide away somewhere safe. "Leave us." Experienced as he was, Sandra was threatened by his battle stance.

The woman hissed at Elazul, smiling only when making eye contact with Pearl. "Your core is mine! Judge the clod who has forgotten its sparkle! Go! Jewel Beast!"

The room became silent for a second, then a portal appeared and from it emerged a beast with a phantasmagorical human form connecting its body to its head. Was that a Jumi soul? Its four sharp paws hit the floor in front of Elazul, roaring the knight into battle. Elazul took a deep breath, charging forward at the beast. His sword landed a hit that cracked one of the beast's front legs. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sandra near one of the pillars that supported the tower; he made a run for her, only to be thrown away by the beast.

The jewel hunter's laughter echoed inside the room. Elazul rolled to the side to dodge a piercing attack from the beast. Holding the sword's hilt with both hands, the knight hit the beast with brutal force, but it still wasn't enough to even throw it off balance.

Elazul ran away from the jewel beast, creating some maneuver space between the two. He quickly scanned the area looking for a strategy. To his misfortune there wasn't much he could do except face the monster head on. Said monster began charging at him, the good thing was that at least it was only focused on him.

The lapis knight charged forward as well, moving to the left and striking the beast's head away when it descended for an attack. The jewel beast seemed dazed from the hit, only to quickly recovered with a roar. The beast leaped and hit Elazul with a series of attacks that the knight could only hope to defend against. One small mistake and he was done for.

Elazul wondered how long his sword would withstand so many hits without breaking. The damaged floor beneath his feet also caused him to slip at times which wasn't helpful at all. His body was also tired from fighting all of the previous monsters from the tower and from carrying Rhea's dead weight the whole way down. That was it, he wouldn't hold on much longer – he'd be dead soon. Pearl was next and the core hunter would leave triumphant.

Suddenly, the beast came to a halt. His entire body became engulfed in a blinding light and before Elazul could even master a thought, it was gone. The beast vanished before his very eyes. His first action was to make sure Pearl was safe, only after did he understand the situation.

Sandra was pressing tightly against the blood coming from a deep cut in her left arm. Her teeth revealed all of her fury and if her eyes could kill, then Rhea was probably the first target. By the time Elazul looked, Rhea appeared to have fallen again into the floor, cursing under her breath.

"You ungrateful little...!" Sandra screamed her frustration instead. "I could have killed you before you know?! The ruby wasn't your problem and neither are the lapis lazuli or the pearl!"

"As beaten up as I am right now, Sandra, you will never kill before my eyes ever again!"

Sandra screamed again. Elazul noticed one of Rhea's daggers near Sandra's feet. He figured the girl must have thrown it and made Sandra loose her focus on the summoned beast, which in return caused him to retrieve to his dimension.

After taking a few deep breaths, a confident smile returned to the hunter's lips. "Quite the partner you have, Pearl." Again, she returned her undivided attention to Pearl.

Rhea sneered. "You're lucky I missed."

"Pearl..." Elazul warned her, once the guardian stepped closer.

"Why...?" Her voice was filled with sadness. "Why do you hunt us? How terrible!"

The core hunter let go of her wound, allowing the blood to drip down her fingers. "Listen to your core."

"Huh...?" Pearl instinctively placed both hands on her pure core, it told her nothing.

They heard Sandra shoot a rope to the upper floors. She gave Pearl one last smile. "We'll meet again. Goodnight, Pearl." And she was gone.

Elazul went ahead and gave Rhea's dagger back. He muttered a 'thank you' as she returned the dagger to its proper place. Even as she was, barely able to move on her own, Elazul admired how she still managed to save the day. Her tenacity was strong.

"... Am I going to die?"

Elazul heard Pearl as he helped Rhea back up. "You're not going to die, not while I'm here."

It was hard for Elazul to speak those words. After all, he would surely have died today had not been for Rhea, and consequently, Pearl too.

The young guardian faced Elazul. "Please stop looking for others..." her eyes pleaded. "A guardian without a knight is a sitting duck."

Rhea felt Elazul's strong body hesitate. "Listen to what you're asking! If there are others out there, then I have to help them! If not to warn them about Sandra, the jewel hunter." He hissed at Pearl's defeated expression. "Let's not waste anymore time here. We have to take Rhea to Gato's nuns."

 **X**

Rhea laid in bed with her eyes open. She couldn't quite remember how she got there nor when she came back to her senses. The only thing she knew for sure was that that had to be the hardest bed she had ever laid on. A nun seemed to smile behind her veil as she tucked the sheets around Rhea's body. The warrior felt somewhat sticky and nude. Which made her brain furiously wonder when had that happened.

"We rubbed a natural medicine on your body," the nun began as if reading her mind. "Don't worry, only us nuns have entered this room so far, but your friends are waiting on the other side."

"Send them in." She demanded.

The nun blinked in what Rhea deduced to be surprise. "But you're..."

"I'm not going to take the sheets off for everyone to see me naked!" She argued. "Now, please, I just want to have a quick talk."

The nun bowed once, excusing herself out of the room and calling the others inside. There were more people than Rhea had originally expected – now she felt embarrassed. Bud, Lisa, Daena and even Elazul and Pearl were there. And there she was, with nothing but a thin sheet to cover her. She wouldn't mind if Elazul wasn't there. The male Jumi's presence made everything awkward.

"You're finally ok!" Lisa yelled, jumping to her bed with Bud mimicking her.

"I'm fine you two! Stop pulling!" She growled.

Elazul leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Pearl sat on a chair near her bed, the ever so familiar concerned expression in her face. And Daena saluted her with a frown from behind Pearl. She was going to hear it from the feline friend.

"What did I tell you?" The feline woman said. Although her tone was a calm one, it was filled with anger. "Leave the tower as soon as you feel any danger! You're fortunate enough that Matilda felt the menace and I found this..." her cat eyes met the uncaring figure that was the lapis knight. "Jumi to help you."

Rhea sighed exasperatedly. Lately everybody judged her good intentions. "Tell Matilda everything's fine. The core hunter Sandra was the one who broke inside the tower."

It was Daena's turn to sigh. "I already know. In case you haven't noticed it's morning. You slept here through the night."

That explained all the light in the room. She did remember Sandra wishing Pearl good-night, which meant it took them quite the time to climb up and down Leires tower. But just to be sure, Rhea came into a sitting position, pulling the sheet around her chest, to see outside her bed window.

"Goddess, are you naked under there?!" Elazul couldn't help but notice.

Rhea felt herself blushing and for some reason so did Pearl. "It's not like you can see anything! And if you do, look away. I wasn't exactly expecting you two to come thru that door! Which by the way, what are you still doing here? And where's Fenrir?"

"He's outside. The nuns also healed him, but it took him less time to recover than you did, master!" It was Bud who decided to answer.

Elazul suddenly seemed to find the door that led outside very interesting. "First, Pearl wanted to make sure you recovered well. Second..." he hesitated, slowly turning his head towards her. "I have a big favor to ask of you... Don't look at me like that! It's not easy for me to ask either!"

"Fine," Rhea shook her head, feeling like she really needed a bath. "Ask away."

To her surprise, it was Pearl the one who asked. "Um... Think we could stay with you for a while?"

 **A/N:** What?! An entire chapter describing them going down Leires tower? Yup, that just happened. I didn't focus too much on the battle with the jewel beast, but I thought it was important for the encounter with Sandra to happen. Hope you don't mind this one! :)


	7. Master of the Lake

**A/N:** This is a long chapter! Bear with me here, I was inspired! lol

Rhea had been wondering about it, for a while now, the possibility of letting Pearl stay with her for a few weeks, and Elazul too, but this one seemed to need a shorter stay. Both Bud and Lisa were quick in agreeing, but it was her house, she'd make the final decision.

Her mind and body were cured from the recent stretch thanks to the bath provided by the healing temple. Whatever the nuns used in that lotion to clean their fur, it made wonders for Rhea's hair that was now soft and silky. Her muscles were fully healed, except for her arm muscles, they still felt somewhat uncomfortable with brisk movements.

But back to the topic at hand, Rhea knew she would say _yes_ in the end. It was so like her to do that. Despite the clear differences and disputes between her and Elazul, she couldn't find it in her heart to deny Pearl a roof to shelter her.

She understood Elazul's reasons too. The knight wanted to find other Jumi and aid them, she could understand that, it was his personal quest. She wasn't quite sure where his guardian fitted in that quest, but she remembered Pearl complaining about the matter back in Leires Tower...

Basically, Rhea was going to babysit Pearl for a while.

The nuns had kindly washed and dried her clothes for her, which felt good, and once she was satisfied with the way her hair sticks looked on her, Rhea left the room. Outside, Bud and Lisa argued between them. Fenrir appeared out of nowhere to greet Rhea who replied with the same enthusiasm. She was glad his wound was hardly visible between all the fur. Pearl was leaning against the wall, seemingly concerned for the twins, and Elazul guarded the corridor, but turned around when he heard the door from her room close.

"What are you two arguing about?" Rhea asked the elf twins in a calm voice, as if she was used to that.

Bud frowned while scratching his nose. "Lisa wants to slow us down! I say we should take Pearl to the safety of our home immediately!"

Lisa replied by hitting her brother's arm and facing the disapproval look of Rhea. "He's lying! He just doesn't want to stay another day and learn about the healing potions and spells, because he's bad at it!" She continued the assault by pulling her tongue at him.

"Am not!" He mimicked Lisa. "I am simply too great to waste my time with silly potions!"

Their argument escalated into a tone Rhea could no longer distinguish the words. Her eyes met Elazul who approached them and he too seemed to be thinking the same as her – was that how they looked back in the tower?

"Where's Daena?" She was going to ignore the twins for now.

Elazul's thumb pointed behind his shoulder. "With a friend... Don't know the name."

"Matilda," Figures. "Are you two ready to head back?"

The knight seemed caught off guard by her words. "Just like that? You accept my proposal of taking in Pearl for a while?"

Her shoulders came up and down. "I'm so flattered you finally complimented me that I just couldn't say 'no'." She remembered Elazul using the words _only one he could trust_ when he made the request.

The lapis knight stared away, shy all of a sudden. "Yes, well... You're part of a very small group that doesn't want to kill us. Should we go then?"

"No!" Lisa cried, leaving Bud talking to himself. "Please Rhea, stay just for another day! I just need another lesson to perfect one of the potions! Please, Bud and I heard some travelers talking about a strange monster disturbing Lake Kilma."

"And?" Rhea's eyebrow rose. "It's not my job to go after every single problem out there, Lisa. It usually comes to me."

The small child shook her head viciously. "Don't you remember? Professor Bomb asked you to find his defected golem and you promised you'd help look for it!" Rhea didn't like where Lisa was trying to get, but the elf girl spoke fast to avoid an intervention. "The strange monster in Lake Kilma might be the golem! Maybe you could just take a look at it? If it's not then you leave immediately!"

Rhea placed a few fingers in her head, rubbing it gently, those two gave her a headache. "I almost forgot about that... You're coming with me!" she pointed at Elazul who lost his amused smirk.

"Why? It's your problem. And someone needs to watch Pearl from Sandra."

"Leave her with Daena, I need an extra pair of hands and that woman won't leave her friend alone even if Armageddon day came," She acknowledged Pearl for the first time. "Do you mind? She's a formidable warrior and with a partner I could get the job done much faster."

"I..." Pearl felt confused. Hardly anyone allowed her to make any decisions on her own. Her timid eyes met Elazul's disapproving ones. "I... I'd like to stay... If possible. Maybe attend the class Lisa was talking about..."

Rhea noticed the short guardian cower, something she really hated seeing. She walked in front of Pearl when Elazul threatened to yell something at her. "She's safer here than she is with us. Plus, it's her decision."

"But not yours to make decisions for me!" He snapped. "I'm not agreeing to go with you!"

Rhea shut him up with a hand, something that seemed to anger him even more. "Look, I'm still not myself here, and I'm not going home until I take care of this matter. All I'm asking, is for you to give me a break here and help me. A favor for a favor."

"I knew I was going to regret this..." Elazul said with great distaste.

 **X**

They still had time to lunch before setting out to Lake Kilma, learning of an easier and quicker path by Daena. They searched deep into the lake's woods, with Elazul leading the way since he'd been there before. Their search led them back into the lake's entrance when they heard a ruckus. There, climbing an upper path, they found what Rhea wasn't expecting to find – the golem. The creature laughed and spoke nonsense. A defected creation no doubt.

Rhea dropped her empty backpack into the ground, unsheathing both her weapons. "Take his right side and I'll go left. We should be able to..."

The knight's great sword easily sliced thru the golem like cutting bread. Another quick cut finished the job and the golem fell into pieces.

Elazul confidently rested the sword on his right shoulder, his stare provoking Rhea. "Is this all?"

Rhea closed both hands into fists, but she wasn't about to give into Elazul's cocky smirk. Instead, she returned her daggers and picked up her bag, walking as confidently as she could to the dismembered golem.

After filling her bag with golem parts, Rhea asked for Elazul's bag and filled his with the rest. "Well," she still refused to eye the knight. It was ridiculous how easily he had defeated the golem. "That's that. Now I just have to return the pieces to professor Bomb. That sure was fast!"

"You're welcome." Elazul allowed himself to a laugh, swiftly sheathing his sword.

Rhea rolled her eyes, but still thank him. She had to recognize the man's skills with the sword. As they went down the path to exit the lake, a group of penguins and a walrus were hard to miss.

"The scouts ain't back yet..." The walrus had a surprisingly strong voice and thick accent. "Could the faeries have taken them?" Rhea grabbed Elazul's wrist when he was ready to simply leave. She was focused on the conversation between the penguins and their captain, as they had called them. Something about the faeries intrigued her. "Aarrr, shut up! Back to the ship before the faeries find us!"

And with that they slid away. Elazul was actually amazed at how well they moved considering the earth beneath them. What he didn't like was Rhea's expression. He knew that look, she'd used it before with him, back in Domina.

"Don't even think about it." He called the girl back to reality. "Just because trouble tempts you with a bone, doesn't mean you have to bite it. Besides, faeries live in a different dimension from ours."

"I know that but..." She returned her attention to the direction the group went. "Faeries hate all creatures from our dimension. Could we..." She shook her head. "I mean, I'll go ahead and take a look. Just to make sure they reach their ship safely."

The knight let out a rather exasperate sigh. "As soon as they enter their ship we leave straight for Gato, agreed?"

Rhea smiled. So gentle and pure that made Elazul nervous. "Agreed."

Once again they crossed the now familiar paths of Lake Kilma. The wind was a bit chilly, but the view that surrounded them was beautiful. The trees, the grass, the local animals and sounds, everything was peaceful and relaxing. A perfect place for a quick getaway.

But there were no paradises in Fa'Diel. As the two made a curve to the left, Rhea took both hands to her mouth but the scream came anyway. Three life-like statues of the penguins they saw earlier stood in their path. One never saw it coming, but the other two were frightened.

Elazul used his core, feeling no other presence nearby. He carefully reached out a hand and knocked twice on the head of the nearest statue. "Stone cold..." He noticed Rhea still in shock. "Something turned them into stone. A monster?"

"What kind of creature would do this?" She allowed anger to take over her. "How cruel!"

They didn't plan for it, but their swords were unsheathed at the same time. Elazul pointing to a path that the penguins seemed to be following and Rhea followed him promptly behind. The path led to another statue. A brave penguin that wanted to go back for his friends but suffered the same fate.

"Excuse me, young'uns..." The deep, trembling voice scared them into battle stance. "Hello. I'm just a turtle." It seemed to want to assure them that it was harmless.

"That's Tote..." Rhea whispered to Elazul once she managed to take a closer look at the fallen wisdom.

"I have a favor to ask you..." Tote began.

There was no need for him to say a word, they both saw clearly that the turtle needed a little boost. And that was what they did. Carefully the two brought the wisdom back on his feet... or whatever those were. He began dusting himself before smiling ever so tenderly at them.

"Oh, thank you, young'uns!" He spoke in a mild manner. "The pirates did this to me. They trampled me on the way to look for the _treasure_."

Elazul and Rhea eyed one another. It was the first time they heard of any treasure. "You make it sound as if it doesn't really exist."

Tote smiled, seemingly pleased with the lapis knight. "That's because it doesn't. By the way young'uns, can you see the faeries right here?"

Once again they exchanged eye contact. It was strange to talk to a wisdom. "No, we can't." It was Rhea the one who spoke.

Now the turtle seemed proud. "Faeries don't show themselves unless they feel threatened. I will cast a spell so you will be able to see them."

Rhea remained motionless, only Elazul protested such an unwanted gift, however Tote ignored his rants and placed the spell on them anyway. Their eyes itched for a second, and once they rubbed it off, they saw them. Faeries, three of them and so close. They seemed angry at Tote for casting the spell, shooting looks of disapproval to both Rhea and Elazul.

"They're so... small." Elazul managed to say. "And not how I imagined they'd be like."

Rhea had seen one before in Gato, so she was no longer surprised, nevertheless, Elazul's remark earned him to be called a _stupid human_ by one of the faeries. They squealed protests at them, calling them names, how there was no treasure, how they were bond to their master and how he would petrify them all for their intrusion.

This last statement enraged Rhea. "Elazul, we should hurry."

The Jumi didn't seem to protest. They left Tote behind and ran down their path. On the way, they learned a few more things from the mystical faeries. They seemed to be using a gift from their master to turn the humans into stone themselves. Apparently they thought penguins were a type of human. The more she heard, the maddened Rhea became.

Finally, they reached their targets. Only a few penguins left. The captain warned his crew of the danger that followed them and suggested immediate retreat. The penguins objected, for they didn't want to leave their stoned friends behind. What followed was the silliest conversation in the worse of time between the penguins and their captain. Before Elazul could say anything at how idiotic they sounded, the crew made a run for their ship.

"Goddess..." He managed to spat out.

Both kept running behind the sea crew. Finding a few more stoned penguins on the way. Which meant they weren't the only ones after them.

The duo kept running along the path, fighting away a few monsters that were brave enough to face them. Finally, the two reached a cliff – but not on time. The remaining four penguins jumped to the bottom, most likely trying to save their lives from the faerie standing in front of them. Only their captain stayed behind.

"You must sacrifice yourself to the master too!" The faerie began. A peculiar round item in her hands.

The walrus shook his fins in defense. "Wait! The penguins started this!" So much for the brave captain.

"Look out!" Rhea yelled.

Running towards the faerie that beamed a light from the item in her hands, dagger in one hand, Rhea made a quick swift at her target but to no avail The faerie vanished to its dimension as the now petrified captain fell down the cliff as well.

"Oh my, this is getting worse..." It was Tote's voice.

The sudden appearance from the turtle made Elazul jump in his feet. "How the heck did you get here so fast?!"

The wisdom promptly ignored the Jumi knight and did the same with Rhea as he passed by her towards the edge. The turtle's neck stretched, scanning down the cliff. He seemed to give it a thought before looking down again and back at the two warriors.

"Once you go down, you can't come back up by yourself." He warned them. "But they will surely be killed by the lake monster if we leave them there."

Tote's words seemed to signal Rhea into suicidal mode. The two bladed warrior dropped her bag, ran and leaped down the cliff without much as a warning. Tote's fuzzy eyebrows rose in astonishment. The girl was either very brave or very stupid.

On his end, Elazul cursed a few words. Tote noticed the young Jumi become visibly filled with anger, but it only lasted him a minute. He proceeded for the cliff's edge, also dropping his heavy bag while cursing another word at the height. "This girl will be the death of me..."

The knight then left Tote's vision. The wisdom smiled and laughed at himself. "Young'uns these days... I shall go, too."

As soon as Tote landed, and recomposed himself from the fall, all he could hear was the young Jumi quarreling with the female warrior. Both yelled at one another very loud and very fast, so Tote was unable to understand their words. Not that he was interested either. As for the penguins, these made a protective circle around their petrified captain. They also seemed to be bickering at each other as to what to do next – fighting seemed to be the solution nowadays. Tote managed to control the penguins after only a short talk, and adjusted his voice to become as wise as he could for his next suggestion.

"Well then, how about if you penguins become live bait, and..." a cheap smile drew his face. "That couple over there brings down the monster?"

"We're not a couple!" They yelled in perfect unison.

Only Rhea shook her head when she realized Tote's intention. "Wait, what?"

"Figures..." Elazul complained, his arms folded. "We're the only ones with actual weapons here. Not even these damn 'pirates' carry a single sword!"

But the penguins were distracted by something that was starting to trouble them. They asked the wisdom about the size of the monster, since they apparently were the ones that had to lure him in, and Tote's answer did not loosen them up one bit. The monster was big, very big.

The penguins began to protest, however Tote, being the wisdom that he was, knew how to activate his plan. "At least I will start this for you."

Fins firmly grabbed the statue of the walrus, up it went and away into the lake's bottom. This caused some mouths to drop.

"Hey!" "Cap'n!" The penguins yelled, immediately jumping into the lake after their captain.

"Forget everything I said. I like this turtle." And Rhea had to agree with the knight.

Said turtle ran away to hide as the penguins swam out and inside the lake again, obviously running from something and that was Rhea's and Elazul's cue. Weapons drawn, the two watched their opponent rise from the lake's depths. Its shape not what neither of them was expecting. It was big, no doubt about that. The lake's monster was nothing more than a giant eye ball protected by a spiky shell armor. Both Elazul and Rhea felt confident in their skills to defeat it.

Rhea made a dash to her right, catching the monster's attention with her. His enormous eye immediately locking her. She moved in for the hit, only to just as quickly back-flip away from his incoming spikes. Elazul took the opportunity to slice one of said spikes away, and Rhea knew she'd made the right call in bringing him along.

The monster was unfazed by the injury. His gaze still pretty much set on Rhea. The eye closed for two seconds and when it opened, Rhea had to jump to the side to escape a beam. Only, one of the penguins was in the path of the ray, being struck by it. To everyone's surprise, the beam had not injured the pirate penguin, but rather turned this one into solid stone. Cold sweat came to both Rhea and Elazul.

"This is not good..." Rhea eyed Elazul standing at her side. "What do we do?"

The knight kept his fierce face, but had become clearly concerned. "We need to kill this thing as quickly as possible. Aim for the eye, if he doesn't have that, then we might have a chance."

It was easier said than done. The creature's spikes kept expanding and trying to pierce them, preventing the two from reaching the cursed eye. On the brighter side, they discovered that Rhea's fast movements were an excellent distraction for the monster, while Elazul's broad sword easily sliced the spikes away from the armor.

The monster, however, picked up on their scheme. He had to take the stronger one out. His eye locked on the lapis knight, who had nowhere to run with a giant rock behind and the lake to his side, and fired the beam.

"Azul!"

Rhea, agile as she was, managed to tackle the knight away from the beam and inside the lake. A mix of feelings invaded Elazul. The fright of the attack, the surprise with Rhea, the shock of the cold water and the desperation of swimming out – so much that he actually managed to swallow some of the water. Once he emerged, he coughed violently and still felt the sword on his hand, his instincts told him to get out as quickly as possible.

He pulled himself up to where the battle was taking place, only to notice that the monster wasn't around and... Rhea.

"You idiot!" He ran up to her, throwing his soaked head piece away for it weighed him down. He coughed when he reached her, still feeling some of the water in his throat. "Rhea..."

His hand was shaky as it grazed her stone cold body. Admirably, even knowing what was coming to her, she still managed to remain in battle position, her face determined as ever. She was definitely a strong willed girl, Elazul had never met anyone quite like her.

Elazul yelled into the air, his all too familiar anger coming to him. "Show yourself! This fight isn't over yet!"

It was odd. Elazul could feel the presence of the monster still hovering around, but his eyes could not pick up a material form.

"Young'un!" Came the voice of the old wisdom, peeking from his safety spot. "The master of the lake has the power of invisibility. It can not move while in that state, but come too close and he will reveal himself by impaling you with one of its spikes!"

Elazul cursed his luck. Firmly holding the hilt of the sword in his right hand. Tote noticed this one starting to glow. It was harder to use his core in non-jumi things, but he tried anyway. Elazul closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm his anger. He could feel it, Rhea was still alive behind him. There were unquestionably no other Jumi nearby, too. No. He had to focus. He felt the wind whisper to the grass beneath his feet, he felt the calmness and wisdom of the lake and there, in front of him, just slightly to the right – the lake master.

His eyes flashed opened. "You're dead!"

Now holding the sword with both hands high over his head, the blade glowing ever so brightly, it came down in a swooping beam of light. It struck the lake master dead on, revealing the body. Its eye was wide open in shock, slowly tearing apart in half and falling to the ground.

Tote and the remaining penguins left their hiding spot to inspect the dead monster. The penguins cheered while Tote admired the gruesome work. "The young'un did it..."

Only, Elazul couldn't care for the victory cheers. His eyes were on Rhea and her statue form. Why had she done that? He was the one who had been careless enough to be in the way. He hated that. Having to see others die because of his mistakes. He touched her face and allowed his arm to slowly wrap around her neck in what was for him a good-bye hug.

"This is why we don't get others involved. You shouldn't have to turn to stone... Rhea, I'm sorry."

"My... first you compliment my skills and now you're apologizing to me? You must be in a very good mood today!"

Elazul backed away alarmed. Rhea's mesmerizing crimson eyes facing him with a smirk. He had to rub his eyes and stare again. Her smile became wider. Behind him, he heard a ruckus of fins clapping and yells filled with joy. The captain and the other penguin had returned to themselves too.

"The curse was lift when you defeated the monster!" Tote answered the clear question in Elazul's face. "The others must be back to normal too. We should leave now. Penguins, make a ladder will you?"

"How in Fa'Diel did you do that?" Rhea caught his attention again. She was inspecting his bloody work. "You sliced the monster perfectly in half! That's just... wow, beyond amazing!"

"You... are an idiot!" Rhea frowned her nose at the description. "A moron! A complete half-wit!"

"Ah, there's the Elazul I know."

The two bladed warrior was startled when the knight grabbed both of her shoulders tightly and locked his gaze on her. "I'm serious, Rhea. Don't you ever do that again!"

"Do what?" She was genuinely confused.

Elazul exerted some more pressure. Never realizing he was starting to hurt her. "Don't sacrifice yourself for me... or my kind!"

She seemed bored as she rolled her eyes. "I thought you'd be mad at me for tackling you that hard, but for saving you? That's what friends naturally do... and you're the idiot you hard headed Jumi!"

Her words both alarmed and scared the Jumi knight in more ways than one. For once he was speechless. His hands finally let go of her, and his eyes never met her face again for the rest of that day. He went on to grab his head piece from the ground and walk towards Tote who had devised something for them to climb out of the cliff.

"I'll repay you for this favor you're doing with Pearl. But after that, we'll leave your sight for good. You understand?"

He couldn't see Rhea shake her head. The female warrior placed a comforting hand on his arm and smiled tenderly. "Thank you, Elazul. I'll be fine."

Only, she could not understand what she was getting herself into, and Elazul could not decide if involving her into his world was such a good idea anymore.


	8. Once Upon a Time

There was something magical in that sunset. Rhea had seen many sunsets in her life, but none like that of Gato. The burning sky seemed to foresee an unknown war, yet, the light orange mixed with pink evoked calmness to the soul.

Rhea couldn't decide if she liked the sunset or not. Of course, after a tedious walk back to Gato with a suddenly very silent and avoiding Jumi, it was hard to find anything gratifying. She was tired and confused out of her mind. Once at Gato, the two warriors were wholeheartedly received by the elf twins, which made Rhea happy and forget all about Elazul. The knight went ahead to check on Pearl while Rhea told the twins their surprisingly amazing adventure at Lake Kilma.

"Tote was there?!" Bud yelled, grabbing his hair in frustration. "I knew I shouldn't have stayed here for another stupid potion class!"

Lisa grunted. "That's because you're still so bad at it!"

At dinner, the conversation between Rhea and the twins continued. They were probably very loud for the temple nuns' taste, but since they never really said anything, the three acted as though they were at home. Pearl, despite being quiet, was very interested in hearing Rhea's story. Especially since she had been about the only one at the table that felt that something was off with her knight. Only, she too had become visibly shocked when learning about Rhea being turned into stone.

"Why do you keep putting yourself in danger?!" Bud yelled, hitting the empty soup bowl on the table.

Rhea frowned. "I'm not paying for that if you break it!" She then shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Comes with the job."

"No! It's more like you chase it!" It was Lisa's turn to raise her voice, something that amazed Rhea. "Fighting monsters as big as mountains! Loosing consciousness and bleeding in the middle of the road! What will be of us if you die?!"

"Congratulations. You'll get a house all for yourselves."

"There's that stupid sarcasm again!" Bud dismissed her with a hand. "It's like you care for everybody, but nobody's allowed to care for you!"

A sudden noise broke their argument. Elazul rose from his chair and gestured Pearl to follow him. He turned his back on the party and wished them a goodnight before entering a door that led to the rooms. Rhea took the opportunity to also take the twins to bed. She really did not want to keep that conversation going.

She laid upon the bed once the twins were asleep, trying to forget a conflict not demanded. For one second she closed her eyes to slumber, and her mind drifted to things it remembered, to forget a problem it could not understand. It seemed that more than one voice was speaking. It spoke to her of unknown dangers ahead and of a promise to keep. The voice was deep but young, determined but also scared.

"Time draws near and I will see things thru..." she felt so tired she found it difficult to speak. "I want the nightmares to end. I don't want to be like this."

 **X**

Morning came and Rhea actually felt better with herself. Especially after the magnificent bath provided by the temple. She left her room to wake up the twins for breakfast, and to her luck they were far too sleepy at that time of day to utter a single word. Shortly after, they were joined by a cheerful Pearl and a still not talking lapis knight.

"Good-morning, Rhea. Are you feeling better today?" Her voice was sweet and caring.

Rhea returned the gentle smile. "The nuns gave me the same medicine as yesterday, so my muscles feel rejuvenated. I must get my hands on that stuff!"

"I learned how to do it..." Lisa said in her hushed sleepy voice. Her eyes barely open.

"That's good to know. Quite the productive visit to Gato then!"

Breakfast was eaten in a moderate conversation, with Rhea feeling surprised that Daena ended up joining them. The feline woman was worried about some rumors she'd been hearing lately coming from the Jungle area. When Rhea attempted to dig for further information, she received none.

"Come over more often you hear?" Daena said as the party was settled in Gato's entrance and just about ready to leave. "Next time, stay for a week or so. Your twins may practice their magic in the temple while you and me get our fighting techniques together."

Rhea laughed teasingly. "Really? I'll remember that offer and shove it in your face when the 'I can't leave Matilda alone for too long' excuse comes."

Elazul took notice of Daena wagging her tail around nervously. "Things have been calm around here... Sandra is no threat to us and the troubles I hear of all come from the Jungle area – very far from here. So if things remain the way they are now, I promise to be more relaxed the next time we meet."

"It's a deal."

The twins shouted their good-bye to Daena, while the ever so shy Pearl apologized for any inconvenience she may have caused, and Elazul just remained quiet. Something that was starting to really annoy the two bladed warrior.

 **X**

By now Rhea could walk across Luon highway with her eyes closed. That's how well she knew her way around that place. The monsters were so scarce that she allowed for Bud, Lisa and Fenrir to do all the fighting while she, Pearl and Elazul walked side by side.

She couldn't stop looking at him. He was tall, robust, and had a stately yet gentle face with sharp blue eyes. How could she tear her eyes away? She didn't know what it was, she felt angry every time he opened his mouth and yet, something about him greatly fascinated her. All the while, she had been stealing glances at him, looking away sheepishly as he turned in her direction.

"What?" The first word he said in ages, and it had to be in that aggressive tone of his.

"Nothing." She was a bad liar and she was sure he noticed it too. "I was just wondering... You said you were going to set out on a journey to search for other Jumi. But, how do you know where to start looking? Fa'Diel is a large land."

To her surprise, Elazul actually provided her with a proper reply. "I know there are others out there. Hiding somewhere. I don't know where they are, but I need to find and protect them."

"And you're going to do all of that alone?"

He shot her a critical eye. "That's the plan. Why?"

Rhea placed a thoughtful hand under her chin. "You have but only one guardian now... and you keep loosing her. Imagine what will happen if you have to watch over a bunch of other Jumi!"

And just like that, a roaring argument broke between the two warriors. Bud, Lisa and Fenrir seemed to disregard their loud shouts as they guided them back to the house, while Pearl couldn't help but feel out of place. Never had she seen someone challenging Elazul's temper quite like Rhea did.

In time, the group reached Rhea's abode, and during that short journey, the argument between Rhea and Elazul had already been cleared. With Rhea having to apologize in the end, she did recognize she had gone a bit too far with her earlier remark.

Rhea gave both Elazul and Pearl a tour of the house, and they were truly amazed with the area. Bud and Lisa grabbed some fruits and spent the rest of the day locked in the workshop, from where they could hear the occasional rumble and shake that caused shivers down Rhea's spine. Fenrir pretty much did whatever he felt like doing that day, which included sleeping and eating small prey. Rhea and Elazul had to make a bed for Pearl to sleep with the twins in the attic. Rhea had insisted for the guardian to stay in her bed, only Pearl refused to accept such a thing. Stating that she would enjoy the view from upstairs.

Elazul ended up agreeing as well. Should anyone try to break inside the house, they had to go thru him and Rhea before ever reaching Pearl.

"You're not sleeping in the attic?" Rhea asked. Figuring Elazul would want to be close to his guardian.

The lapis knight shook his head. "I have trouble falling asleep... I don't want to risk waking anybody up in the middle of the night. I'd suggest staying in your library if that's ok with you."

The dark blonde simply shrugged her shoulders. "Fine by me. There's a lot for you to read in there, so knock yourself out."

Rhea made lunch for everyone and returned to her usual routine around the house once everyone's stomach was satisfied. She took care of Trent, went to Domina's market to buy anything they may need in the house, yelled at the twins for blowing up a wall in her workshop that Elazul ended up mending since he had nothing better to do, while Pearl ended up cleaning the whole kitchen by herself.

Just as the sun began to set in the distant plains, a visitor came by. Elazul and Pearl hid inside the house for safety, and noticed Rhea wasn't exactly pleased with the unannounced meeting.

"What's up, Niccolo?"

"Terrible way to greet your boss!" The merchant said. "You went missing for almost three days without as much as a warning and I got a job for us!" He proceeded to rub his hands with enthusiasm. "This one is for a very rich client, so we must be efficient here."

The warrior crossed her arms and smiled. "The usual 70-30 split?"

The rabbit nearly chocked. "70-30?! It's always been 60-40 with you!"

"Then you shouldn't have mentioned the rich client, Niccolo. You know better than that."

"No deal!" He shouted.

"Fine."

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

Niccolo was furious. The rabbit was inches away from kicking the Sprouting that seemed to live in Rhea's entrance away. He hastily walked from one side to another, cursing between his teeth, until he calmed down a little and stood in front of Rhea to face her.

"65-35?" He tried.

"70-30."

"Damn you Rhea!" His face was surely red underneath all that fur. "If you weren't so skilled with those blades I would never do business with you! Be ready at the first ray of sunlight tomorrow! We're leaving for Lumina!"

"Oh, Lumina?" There was happiness in her voice. "Haven't been there in a really long time. Quite the beautiful city. I'll see you first thing in the morning, Niccolo."

The merchant left her sight grumbling away. Always the same with Niccolo, just trying to get the best of others. She didn't feel sorry for the greedy rabbit. After all, she was the one that did all of the hard work and put herself up for injury.

"Is he gone?" Elazul asked, carefully opening the door.

And now came the hard part. Rhea adjusted her head pieces before gracefully turning around to face the male warrior. "I need you to stay here with Pearl for a while."

The knight sighed rather heavily, before leaning against the door with his arms lazily crossed. "Why?"

Rhea also folded her arms. "I have a job with Niccolo in Lumina, or at least I think it will be in Lumina. It's never clear how much time it will take, so I may be gone for maybe a week."

"Are you always traveling around? Really, if we're getting in your way just say so." He was surprisingly calm. "But I need to trust Pearl with someone who will be there to protect her."

"Don't worry." She relaxed, walking towards Elazul. As she was about to enter the house, her right hand rested on his shoulder. "I only need this job to have enough money for a while. After this, I will be fully dedicated to Pearl's protection."

Had she seen him blush? Probably just the sunset's light playing tricks.

"Very well." He ended up leaving the house. "Just don't make any unnecessary sacrifices for us."

 **X**

Night came, and with it the citizens of Domina returned to the comfort of their houses. The streets grew quieter as the steam from the chimneys promised a warm delicious meal. All was peaceful and restful, all but inside Rhea's house.

Everyone, safe for Fenrir, sat at the dining table shouting at each other. Pearl watched from the sides while quietly eating her food. The elf twins were especially loud that night. They protested against Rhea leaving so soon, arguing she was hardly spending any time at home. Rhea replied in the same tone, barking orders at Elazul to watch for the twins and also cut some wood to stock-up for the winter. The lapis knight fumed with rage, stating that Rhea was already taking advantage of the whole situation with him.

It had not been a peaceful dinner to say the least, and Pearl felt sad nobody could appreciate how good the food had been. After diner, Elazul had somehow ended up washing the dishes while the twins were rushed into the bathroom to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. Pearl followed their lead for she too felt tired that day.

"Could you tell us 'lullaby for a prince'?" Lisa requested as Rhea finished brushing her reddish hair straight.

"That story?" The blonde eyed Pearl who was testing her own improvised bed for comfort. "Wouldn't you rather hear another one from me?"

"You haven't told us that story in a really long time." Bud took notice. His cute long ears the only thing sticking out from underneath the bed sheets.

Once again Rhea searched for the figure that was Pearl and this time, the fragile looking girl spotted her gaze. "Oh, I don't mind. I'd love to hear your story, Rhea."

She would never know, but that was not the answer Rhea was looking for. The two bladed warrior sighed ever so softly, there seemed to be sadness in her eyes. "Fine..."

She sat on a very short stool between the twin's bed. They laid comfortably, eagerly waiting for her to start. Rhea attempted a smile and she began, her voice was soft and filled with melancholy.

"Once upon a time,

in a place where fate played its cruelest joke on mankind,

there lived a prince with a soul that shone like the sun.

So great was his power and so brilliant was his glory,

that long was the shadow he cast,

which fell dark upon the kingdom he loved and grew only darker as days and nights passed.

In the moonlight's embrace,

the young prince guarded a very special Seed

one that protected the kingdom.

But soon did that prince take notice that Seed did not give her kingdom its due,

and neither had she loved them as they deserved,

she watched as her kingdom's unhappiness grew.

But such was the way of the limelight,

it sweetly took hold of the mind of its host,

and that foolish prince did nothing to stop,

the dark flames that consumed the ones who had needed him most.

The twins had fallen asleep. Rhea proceeded to give each one a soft kiss on the forehead and making sure they were properly tucked in. She turned around to face Pearl, who had goosebumps all over her body. Her own core felt restless with all the sorrow it had picked up from Rhea's story.

"It's... It's not a very happy-ending story is it?"

Rhea's eyes never met Pearl's, as the young warrior walked down the stairs to her room. "No, it's not."

The guardian rested a hand on her core in an attempt to quiet its own anxiety. How strange it felt. To know that the two bladed warrior was no Jumi and yet she felt something so familiar about her.

" _Who are you, Rhea?"_

 **A/N:** In case no one notices, the story that Rhea tells the twins was inspired by: ponyphonic youtube. The song is Lullaby for a Princess and although I never watched the cartoons, I really enjoyed the song. I simply altered some of the words and cut a few lines to adapt this fic. The story will make sense once we learn of her past :)


	9. Do You Welcome the Night?

The dawn light shone from the cloudless sky, illuminating the library in which Elazul slept.

"Hmm... is it morning already?" The lapis knight lifted himself into sitting.

He looked around, feeling dazed and sluggish. His green hair messy, pointing at every direction. Somewhere in his befuddled mind he vaguely registered how the sun was high outside the library's window. He had wanted to take a look into Rhea's book collection, only he felt so tired he hardly remembered having fallen asleep last night. It had been a long time since he managed to wake up feeling as rested as he did that day. The room was also empty of anyone save for himself.

The young Jumi knight rose up to his bare feet, stretching himself. He eyed his broad sword before opening the door outside.

"The sun's already up. You're late!" Lisa appeared in front of Elazul, a hand rested impatiently on her hip.

Bud was nowhere in sight, the girls were the only ones in the area with Pearl already taking the dishes to the kitchen sink. He noticed Rhea was also absent from the picture.

"Is Rhea still sleeping?" He asked.

Lisa sighed heavily under him. "Master already left for her job in Lumina." She proceed to pick up a heavy looking bag from the ground. "By the way, Bud and I are going to the Junkyard to deliver the golem you recovered from the lake."

The warrior stretched his leg to prevent the short elf child from moving any further. "You two aren't going anywhere while Rhea's not around! I'll be dammed if something happens and I have to listen to her yelling at me!"

The female twin shot him a murderous look. "You're not going to order us around! We always make quick trips to the Junkyard and Rhea promised she'd return the golem to professor Bomb." Lisa proceeded to kick Elazul's leg away and walked towards the door. "See you tonight!"

Elazul felt his jaw wanting to hit the floor. He watched, speechless, as Lisa left the house. His eyes met the back of Pearl's head as a finger pointed in the elf child's direction.

"Did you see that?!" His anger took over. "If anything happens I am not responsible!"

Pearl watched thru the window as the small elves left the front gate. She sighed rather loudly to the angry vision that was Elazul at that time of day. "I believe they will be fine. Rhea did mention yesterday that they could do this errand for her."

The lapis knight scratched the back of his head trying to remember such conversation, only to shrug it off once he couldn't. He noticed there was a plate ready for him on the table. Pancakes, jam and grapes. The deceivingly perfect round pancakes and the lack of burn made Elazul suspect Pearl had not been the author of that morning breakfast. His face must have made the unasked question for him, since Pearl spoke.

"Rhea left them before she left." She placed a mug of what the knight presumed to be tea next to his plate. "She must have woken up very early to have all of this ready for us. It..." She felt her cheeks burn up. "It brought a smile to my face... made me feel welcomed in her house."

Elazul sat on the table and began eating. He couldn't tell what the jam was made of, but it sure worked well with the pancakes. "It's odd that she would trust us this much." He began. "It's not like she knows us that well."

Pearl sat on a chair across from her knight. "But she knows what we are, and Elazul... She has saved both our lives."

"Exactly." And he pointed a fork in her direction. "Why? She owes us nothing and yet she helped us from the very beginning with little to no questions asked. One has to suspect such acts of kindness."

"Perhaps she feels it too."

Elazul eyed her critically. "Feel what?"

There was surprise in the petite girl's eyes. "You never felt it? I only felt it for the first time yesterday, when she told the twins their bedtime story." Her core shone when remembering the feeling. "There was so much pain in that story Elazul... You should have heard her. And the sensation I got was... familiar. She's not a Jumi, I'm certain of that, but there was something in her soul my core recognized. A deep buried memory perhaps. I'm not quite sure what it was."

The knight wondered about Pearl's words, only there wasn't much he could make of them. But both of them could probably agree on something. "I don't think she's lying to us about her intentions, but I also think she's not telling us everything about herself or her knowledge on us."

 **X**

"Duba Gak Bubu!"

"Dud!" she shook her head vehemently.

"Bubu?" The Dudbear asked in a now calmer voice.

Rhea smiled. "Dub!"

"Duba Duba Dubba, Dub!"

"Dub!"

"Dub!" He was happy.

"Dada Dadda?" Rhea finally asked.

The Dudbear smiled. "Dub!"

At last, the final lamp was sold.

Why did she always get roped into those situations? She was only to spend the night in Lumina before leaving for her job, and somehow, she ended up learning the basics of the Dudbear language to help a centaur named Gilbert conquer a Siren by the name of Monique. Just how?

But now it was done, and she could help save someone's business. In the end, she felt happy.

Lumina was one of those cities that had a magical aura to it. The city was brought to life at night, evoking a familiar, friendly and romantic feeling in its streets. The dark stones paved Rhea's path and she thought about how the grim color of the city did not take away its charm nor the joy she felt every time she went there.

She found herself back before the centaur Gilbert who was mostly surprised to see that all the lamps were sold. After a brief compliment on her selling skills, the hopelessly in love centaur entered Monique's shop. And just as Rhea sat nearby for a quick rest, the two exited the lamp shop.

She didn't mean to pry on their conversation, but she was already there when they came. Rhea found them to be a cute couple under the stars.

"Monique... I have a dream I wish to tell you." Gilbert spoke, and now Rhea really felt like she was eavesdropping on a private conversation.

The Siren had a lovely smile on her. "Sure, Gilbert. Let's talk about our dreams."

"That's nice..." Rhea whispered to herself. To share ones hopes and dreams with another. She knew how wonderful that felt... once upon a time.

The centaur began playing a music on his instrument. "Just grab a passer-by, and you'll sell all your lamps. Let those Dub bears do the dirty, messy work."

Monique's voice was a captivating one. "The few fans of my lamps come from afar just to buy them. I really enjoy the time and effort I put into them."

"Let's have a famous designer make a masterpiece!" There was excitement in Gilbert's voice. "That's all we'll do, and we'll be rich before we know it!"

"It's fun to gather odds and ends to make unique lamps. I have no income, but the joy I get out of my work is what I live for."

Rhea faced the couple. They didn't seem to be on the same page when it came to their dreams. Monique seemed well settled, while Gilbert still looked for adventure. The centaur seemed to understand that rather quickly.

"Don't you have dreams? This is depressing me."

To which the Siren replied. "Which of my dreams do you see as an illusion? My dreams? Nightly dreams? Hopeful dreams?"

Gilbert paused for a while. "Monique, our dreams don't seem to play in perfect harmony. I must leave this town to look for a new love!"

Rhea nearly choked. How quickly had he come to that conclusion! Monique of course thought the same of him, only she too shocked Rhea.

"After I recover from this shock, I, too, shall find a new love."

The centaur nursed her hand. "Goodbye, love! I shall never forget you, baby!"

Monique freed her hand. "Goodbye, Gilbert. Goodbye."

Rhea could not believe what she had just witnessed. How easy it was for them to simply forget! If ones dreams and ideals didn't match, then should the couple just give up? They don't even try? She couldn't accept how easy it was to empty a heart of someone. She just couldn't... not yet.

She rose from her place and rushed for the inn. Before the tears in her eyes had a chance to fall.

 **X**

 _Silence._

 _There was not a sound as fog draped itself over the land, encasing it in gray mist. The birds had long stopped chirping, the wolves stopped their howling at the full moon. Everything and everyone was silent. And there she waited, waiting for something._

 _At last it came, a clean break in the fog, parting as if cut by knife. There was a soft melody coming from somewhere, but simply drifted along as if played by breeze._

 _The brave knight rose from the fog, his once beautiful curly blonde hair was now dirty and messy, his face and arms stained with blood. The boy's eyes met hers – sorrow and pain ever so present in them._

" _Run."_

 _A blade struck through the knight's chest, the horror in his eyes frightening the girl into a loud scream. The warrior in the red armor removed the sword, enjoying every torturous sound it made on the_ _young_ _knight. The knight's body fell like a doll_ _to the ground_ _. Now, the yellow lizard-like eyes locked hers as his blade moved in for its next kill._

Rhea shot upright, gasping for breath and thrashing in her bed in a blind panic, trying to fight off her unknown assailant. It was a full minute before she had calmed down enough to think properly and realize that she was lying safely in the inn's bed, and that the horrifying scene had been another nightmare. After that had made itself clear, she was finally able to breathe calmly, though her heart was still pounding and a splitting headache was starting to form right above her eyes. The former was fairly common and usually ignored; the latter made dealing with the former seem like an epic task that was not worth getting out of bed for. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury of sleeping in.

She got up as slowly as she could, nursing her now horribly throbbing head with a small whimper. "Oh, damn it!" She cursed between her teeth, gripping her long dark blonde hair tightly as if it would block the headache from taking over the what was left of her sanity after that horrible nightmare. "Not again..."

Rhea took notice that the sun would rise soon, and that the snoring Niccolo would also be up. Fenrir had awoken with her, but the wolf was petted to remain where he was. She took her belongings and left the inn as quietly as she could.

It was a chilly morning, but with a gentle breeze that Rhea appreciated. Lumina was a city usually bathed in the night, only, there were certain hours of the day where one could appreciate the light of the sun. She walked the city without a destiny in mind. She just wanted to free her mind. A Sprouting greeted her along the way and she smiled back. Not that many people around at that time of day, so Rhea was surprised to meet Pokiehl around a corner.

"Pokiehl?" She approached the wise being.

The crow smirked. "If you could go to the underworld alive, would you?"

Rhea felt her heart burning. "What are you talking about Pokiehl? W-what kind of question is that?"

The wisdom rose his hat while rising his other wing. "A question like any other! Only, this one holds the answer that shall lead to many other questions."

Rhea hissed. There were times when she couldn't tell if Pokiehl was helping her, or making everything that much worse. "Is there a need for me to visit the underworld?" And her eyes widened with a sudden understanding. "Is... Is he there, Pokiehl?"

"You don't answer a question with another question. It makes things that much confusing!"

The two bladed warrior had enough. So he enjoyed confusing questions? "Dada Dadda?" She smirked.

The cocky smile vanished from the wisdom's beak. His wings spread wide and a whirlwind of black feathers surrounded them both. "Duba Dub Ba? Du Gak Dubba Dub! Duba Dub!"

And like that, the wisdom vanished before Rhea's very eyes. Leaving behind only a whisper that chilled more than that morning air in Lumina – _Do you welcome the night? A little misfortune greets friends! You will see!_

Rhea stood alone, looking into the distance. "Pokiehl..." Her eyes watched the sun rise. "Please don't give up on me."

 **A/N:** I understand if the section with Rhea might come as confusing, but it's meant to be that way. Let's call this chapter a built up for what's to come in the future :)


	10. The Murmuring Forest

Rhea sighed, twirling a golden leaf in her fingers. She twirled it a moment longer, then dropped it over the ground below her. She watched it fall sadly.

Shoterbee, a short puppy-like thing with a funny speech was her client. A 20,000 lucre for a Du'Cate tail, and apparently she had some competition as well. Two housekeepers were there to also try to pay a dept. They didn't strike her as an intelligent duo, but one sure was fast while the other looked like it could handle quite a few hits.

The task had been explained to them: Enter the jungle and catch a Du'Cate. Simple enough for Rhea, but while the other two ran separately inside the deep Jungle, she took her time to analyze. After all, she'd heard rumors of that Jungle even though she had never been there before. Due to the thick vegetation, many became lost inside. There were also whispers of Faery sighting and a Wisdom also seemed to live here. She knew she had to be careful.

"Lead the way, Fenrir."

The wolf, who seemed to be growing by the day, sniffed the air and the ground. He sneezed a few times and looked a bit overwhelmed with the scents in that place. The two entered the deep Jungle with little to no idea as where to start looking for a Du'Cate. After almost an hour of walking around aimlessly and having lost count of how many meaningless battles they had – the two were officially lost.

After what felt like forever, all the while unleashing her frustration on the wild monsters, Rhea and Fenrir finally reached a clearing where they met Skippie and Hamson, who at the start of the hunt had decided to go separately.

"Finally, some familiar faces!" Rhea groaned. "Have you seen anything yet?"

Hamson took his time to realize who she was. "Duh, guess you didn't find nothing yet too, huh?"

Skippie crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Just this big guy over here. But he's no Du'Cate!"

Rhea noticed the large creature behind Skippie. Her eyes widened in surprise but said nothing. The Wisdom, Rosiotti also took notice of her.

"Hunting Du'Cate?" He said to them. "One has been causing trouble around here lately. I would be most grateful if you took him down. Perhaps you could try and work together."

The two bladed warrior rested a hand on her hip. "It's not a bad idea... We haven't had any luck hunting separately. What do you guys say?"

"I've seen Du'Cate like a million times!" Skippie exaggerated. "But I really can't capture him by myself..."

Rhea smiled. "Perfect. How about you two corner him to a place where I can fight?"

"Duh, there's a big clearing that way." Hamson pointed said way, which was southeast. "It's called the spring of the Beasts."

Now they were getting somewhere. Rhea wondered just why they couldn't have worked together from the start. It sure would have saved her hours of just walking around an immense jungle. Skippie ran ahead immediately, while Hamson took his time to realize he too should be going. Rhea followed her own path towards the clearing.

"I wonder if a Du'Cate is what you should be slaying right now."

Rhea held her next step. Her head tilted to the side to observe the Wisdom who rested on his rock and not really looking her way. But his words rang loud and clear to her. The warrior left.

It had been easy for Rhea to find the clearing, only, those two seemed to be having problems finding the creature even when working together. Eventually, Fenrir's sudden growling and barking gave away the unknown presence hanging in the trees, when the warrior looked however, it was no longer there. All she did next was run out of the way of the incoming large creature that tried to sit on her.

She drew her blades next to her and got into a fighting stance. So that was a Du'Cate, the similarities with the monster she fought in the Mekiv cavern were astonishing. Perhaps the two were related?

Rhea dashed forward, blades ready to hit their mark when the surprisingly agile creature grabbed the trees above and swung away from her. It was then she realized there was nothing she could do so long as the Du'Cate played like a monkey on the trees. The creature would occasionally stomp the ground in an attempt to strike either Rhea or Fenrir, and it too was unlucky to do so.

"This will take forever..." Rhea complained. "Unless I hold him in place somehow, my blades will never reach."

Just as her mind rushed for ideas to take the large creature down, uncoordinated screams broke her focus.

"AaaaAAaaAAaa!"

"Duuuhhh!"

Hamson leaped from the tree branches in a more agile way Rhea could ever imagined him being able to and struck the Du'Cate's hands, causing the creature to fall on the ground. Following this, Skippie performed a king of the jungle scene, coming down with vines in hands and wrapping the Du'Cate firmly in them.

Rhea thought everything to be hilarious, but she admitted their help had come in handy. With a single swing from her blades, the Du'Cate tail fell off. The creature roared in pain as the other two cheered the victory. Only, much to everyone's surprise, smaller Du'Cate came running from the inside of the Jungle, grabbing and running away with the much bigger one who cried in agony.

Hamson and Skippie complained about their luck, since they thought it would have been an excellent opportunity to grab more Du'Cate tails. As for Rhea, she was tired and done with that job. She just wanted to get back home to the twins.

"Thank you for your coopewation, all!" Shotherbee congratulated the group on the catch, splitting the reward among the three. "And I thank you for helping us out! Here's 500 extra wucre."

The puppy rewarded Rhea with the extra money, and although she appreciated and knew it would come in handy, she also knew she wouldn't have been able to bring the Du'Cate down alone. Plus, the other two had a dept to pay.

"I think Hamson and Skippie are more deserving of this money than myself, so they can have it."

Shotherbee was in shock as well as the other two. "How genewous! Hamson and Skippie, fowwow this person's example!" The puppy-like creature smiled her way. "I wike people wike you."

Skippie scratched the back of his head. "Gee miss, thanks..."

The two bladed warrior shook her head and smiled. "We worked well together. I hope we can meet again some other time."

X

Rhea and Fenrir wondered inside the Jungle once again after the others left. She needed to talk to him, Rosiotti, once a mighty warrior whose name alone caused enemies to flee, now a Wisdom hardly ever seen. The later was understandable, after all, who would have guessed the Wisdom to be hiding inside such a dense Jungle?

She entered the clearing where Rosiotti rested. He was old, like many of the other Wisdoms, but he seemed far more tired than them.

"Rosiotti," Rhea called. "How have you been?"

The Wisdom rose his neck, deep dark eyes glaring at her. "I've been troubled. I sought isolation in this Jungle but still it whispers the troubles of Fa'diel to me. Many problems rule our home and yet I feel powerless to do anything." He laughed. "Can you imagine? Rosiotti, the wild boar, is too tired to fight!"

"You fought your battles. You've done your part." Rhea assured him.

Rosiotti's stare became that of an angry animal. "And yet, I would go to battle if this old body of mine allowed me to." He seemed to calm down, resting his head again. "Can you imagine my surprise when I first heard you were alive? Impossible! I thought. And I was sure to be right! After all, the troubles of Fa'diel have not faded one bit!" And once again the Wisdom's eyes seemed to judge her. "Surprised was I again to see the rumor to be true, but disappointed in what it had become – a mercenary."

Rhea crossed her arms in front of her. "Are all of Fa'diel's problems my own? Whatever you may think of me, I'm only one person."

The Wisdom spoke calmly. "Your kind swore a duty to..."

"Shut up!" The warrior yelled, her voice echoing in the woods. "Don't say it..." It was her turn to eye the Wisdom with anger, and yet her voice trembled as tears rested in her lavender eyes. "Just...don't."

Rosiotti rose on his legs, his presence demanding attention and respect. "The people of Fa'diel are not to blame, but you know that, you already know the path you must take. It goes beyond my own wisdom as to why you haven't yet."

Her arm warmers cleaned the tears away. "As if I would know what path to walk." She spat. "I became what I am now to learn as much as I could. I fought and perfected my skills and yet..." She became angry again. "And yet, I can't get rid of the anger, pain and frustration I feel inside me!"

"You walk a path of light, but it is darkness you must face." Rhea's eyes widened. "Your destiny is a cruel one where death's shadow follows."

The young warrior's heart began to beat harder, causing her chest to hurt. "What do you mean?" Pokiehl's words echoed in her mind. "Where do I have to go?!" Her voice raised.

Rosiotti shook his head. "My wisdom goes no further."

Rhea clenched her hand in rage. "Fine. I'll find my path and I will see my story thru."

The Wisdom seemed pleased with her answer. "Very well. But while you're here, mind doing me a favor?" The female simply replied with a raise of an eyebrow. "The Faeries have been acting rather suspiciously lately. I fear for their schemes. I have tried many times to reach them, but to no avail, they avoid my presence."

"You want me to see what I can find?" Rhea concluded.

"Indeed. They live in this Jungle, perhaps you'll have a better luck at uncovering their plan."

The two bladed warrior placed a hand under her chin and thought. It was something that had been in the back of her mind ever since the events at Lake Kilma. She wondered about it then too – about the Faeries hostile behavior. And now Rosiotti suspected something much more sinister and dangerous being planned. It gave everyone a bad feeling, and rather Rosiotti asked or not, Rhea knew she had to investigate.

Two penguins stood near the Wisdom, one of them being Selkie who cast a spell on the female warrior so that she could easily see the Faeries. With everything set, Rhea went deeper inside the Jungle, deciding to leave Fenrir at the care of the Wisdom.

It took her longer than she had anticipated, with all the monsters blocking her path and everything, but eventually Rhea reached a clearing where she finally saw a group of Faeries. They formed a semi-circle and Rhea heard one of them speak in a rather aggressive tone.

"This piece of trash doesn't have any elemental powers..."

The two bladed warrior took a closer look and what she saw horrified her. On the ground there laid a nun from Gato seemingly beaten up. Their conversation continued.

"We need one with stronger powers to become our queen. Bring the priestess of Gato's temple!"

Another one pulled a face, wrinkling her nose. "The priestess looks like a million-year-old hag. Is she the one?"

"No," One of the Faeries shook her head. "Lord Irwin said the priestess is 26."

What followed was some indignation between the lifespan of Humans and Faeries, but quickly the main issue resurfaced.

"Why has our lord chosen a human to be our queen?"

Rhea thought she'd heard enough, she needed to rescue the nun. Her hands naturally reached for the blades as she made a point in showing them when giving away her presence.

"What are you doing to her, Faeries?!" She shouted.

The group composed of five Faeries were evidently taken by surprise. Perhaps threatened by her blades they began to flee – or so they attempted. Neither they nor Rhea could ever prevent the event that followed from happening.

A tall light blond man entered the area from the south. Long sword wield in hand, one, two, three, four and five... all Faeries fell to their death. The blood bath was tremendous and Rhea couldn't believe how fast everything happened. She had to come back to her own mind to remember and close her mouth from the disbelief.

The man seemed unfazed with the carnage as he walked to the nun. "Are you alright!?" At least he seemed genuinely worried.

Rhea also approached the beaten nun, the other warrior took notice of her presence and seemed to hesitate as to draw his sword or not.

"I don't wish to fight." She said while withdrawing her blades. "I was looking for the Faeries when you showed up."

"Not a foe then." He seemed to relax. His appealing green eyes shifted to the nun and back at her. "Rosiotti should be over to the east of here. He will be able to help her. He is one of the Wisdoms. Think you could give a hand?"

Much to their surprise, the nun from Gato suddenly stood up. Her eyes suggesting an angry stare.

"We nuns walk on our own two feet. We do not rely on so-called 'Wisdoms'."

Just as quickly as her sentence lasted, the nun walked away.

Rhea crossed her arms. "You're welcome." Despite not fully agreeing with the decision to kill the Faeries laying not to far from her, the man did rescue the nun, so a 'thank you' was expected. "So, who are you?" She ended up asking the other warrior.

This one sat at a nearby rock. "Escad, I'm a holly knight. And you?"

Rhea took a good look at the so-called holly knight. He had beautiful blond hair kept away from his face by a green bandana and gorgeous green eyes, one would consider him a tad feminine were not for his well defined body, with all the muscles on the right place. A handsome man, Rhea had to admit.

"My name is Rhea. Rosiotti was suspicious of the Faeries recent behavior so he asked for me to investigate."

Escad became visibly angry. "Dammed Faeries... When did they become Irwin's henchmen?" The man rose up, standing in front of her. "May I ask of what you heard? I'll fill you in with my own information of course."

They exchanged their knowledge on the Faeries and Escad became agitated when learning they were after Matilda, much like Rhea became when Irwin turned out to be a demon who lived in the Faerie's dimension for the last 10 years and that he planned on becoming the king of both worlds.

"You're Daena's friend?"

It took Escad a few seconds to answer. "Used to be. Along with Matilda. The three of us were best friends until Irwin showed up and ruined everything. He made Matilda ill and apparently he's not done with her yet."

"Used to be?" Was all that seemed to interest Rhea.

The knight sighed. "Long story and not important. But I must go to Gato and warn her."

Rhea agreed. She thought about offering her help for a second there, only she remembered she still had Pear and Elazul back at home. Besides, it was something that clearly did not involve her. She had to stop sticking her nose in other people's problems.

"Come with me to Domina." She offered. "It's a long journey to Gato and over there you could rest and prepare yourself."

The holly knight refused at first, but after Rhea insisted he gave the offer some further thought.

"Thank you. Since you've been to Gato recently and know Daena, it's probably best that I learn from you first. It's been years since I've set foot in that place."

Rhea smiled. "Perfect! But first, let's inform Rosiotti of our findings."

 **A/N:** I plan on giving Escad a different personality from the one portrayed in the game. I can't seem to agree with the decision of making him reckless and hot-headed, guided by hatred of the demon race because of sheer jealously that a former love, Matilda, preferred the company of Irwin over his... 10 years ago! It makes no sense to me. I believe he still harbors feeling for Matilda as a friend and he does wish to protect her and sees Irwin's evil intentions. A long explanation to say I'll make him more mature and thoughtful than the Escad portrayed in the game.


	11. This Thing Called Feelings

It would have been yet another beautiful sunset that day were not for a very cloudy sky. The day fell gloomier even before night came. Lights began to lit the homes of Domina's citizens as Niccolo dropped the two warriors nearby the road that lead to Rhea's house, Fenrir ran ahead already familiar with the terrain.

Niccolo received his share, but not without another argument with Rhea who threatened to lower the split. There were a few other complains from Niccolo, only now he spoke of Rachel who had been having strange conversations lately. Something about 'not belonging there'. Rhea would have to talk to her.

"You live quite the busy life." Escad noticed as they walked to her house.

Rhea shrugged her shoulders, all the while wondering the state of her home. "I like to keep my mind busy. It prevents me from thinking about other stuff."

The holy knight raised an intrigued eyebrow. "I see. I could learn from you. My mind is always thinking about problems."

The two bladed warrior eyed him curiously. "Ah, it figures."

Escad stopped with her smirk. "It figures what?"

She held her next step. "I seem to have a natural tendency to attract problems." Rhea explained while facing him. "Mostly from other people, which I try to help."

The holy knight shot her a critical eye. "I see. But my problem is to great for me to drag others."

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Try me."

Now the knight smiled, though he didn't seem amused. "I am a long time friend of Daena and Matilda from Gato."

Rhea tilted her head to the side. "That much you have already shared with me." She smiled. "I have personally never met Matilda, but still I've heard a lot about her from Daena."

The story somehow shifted to Rhea telling her part, where and how she met Daena, and also became friends with the feline. Escad was taken back by the coincidence but pressed on with his side of the story.

"And did she mention Irwin? The half-demon?" Rhea shook her head in denial. Escad frowned. "I thought so... When I was young, I fell in love with Matilda – the high priestess of Gato." For some odd reason, Rhea found herself blushing. "Only, she fancied this half-demon who was also our friend."

"I'm sorry." It was all she could say.

Escad dismissed such sympathy. "I was a hotheaded child, I'll admit it, but something about Irwin bothered me from the start. One day, he fled Gato and took Matilda with him." Rhea noticed his body tense up with anger. "I managed to follow them to the Ulkan Mines, but I arrived a moment too late... Irwin absorbed Matilda's wisp elemental powers. He defeated me and disappeared. I was sent to the underworld where Olbohn helped me improve my sword skills and granted me passage to the surface to fulfill my longtime wish and kill Irwin."

Rhea found herself shocked and at a loss for words. "You mean... you're..."

"Already dead?" He laughed. "To some extent, I'm only half of what I once was. Guided through this world until my sword pierces Irwin's heart. The demon has done much wrong and my investigation has led me to believe that he is in league with the Faeries."

Now Rhea began to understand his true worry. "You think he is hiding in their dimension?"

"I'm almost positive of that." He walked towards her until he was able to place a hand on her shoulder. He also came a little to close to her face when talking, something that made the two bladed warrior blush. "I'm going to Gato tomorrow to try and get Daena to listen to me. I have a bad feeling that Irwin will come back for Matilda." Rhea felt her heart skip a beat when his hand moved and gently rested on her cheek. "But don't worry, I don't plan in dragging you to our decade old problem."

 _BOOM._

Apparently the explosion had only been waiting for the perfect cue to ruin the moment. Or whatever strange things Rhea was feeling with Escad's presence. A thick plume of smoke rose from the side of the tree-house, right where the twins practice shed would be. Rhea felt a blood vein in her head starting to pump the blood faster. Was there a way she could ignore that? Perhaps go back to Domina and rent a room for the night?

"For Goddess sake! I'm going to strangle somebody!"

X

Rhea stood in front of the two trouble-makers, tapping her foot. Behind them was a trail of broken fragments, some crisped objects and a very nice hole in the roof for all the ruble to shine the next morning. Elazul stood helpless and cursed his luck by the door. Pearl stood a few feet away from the commotion, but close enough to feel the tension in the air.

"So." Rhea began. "Two days." Her stare was a harsh one, to all of them. "Two days. That's all it takes for you to ruin my workshop."

"In their defense." It was Elazul's voice. "They did behave for almost 48 hours... almost"

The two bladed warrior shot him a harsh stare, but said nothing. By now the Jumi had taken notice of the new blonde warrior who approached Rhea and scanned the workshop room.

There was a whistle of amazement released by the holy knight. "You good?"

Bud cleaned his nose with his long sleeve. "'Sup."

"I see you two had a little accident." Escad continued. "Did you hurt yourselves?"

It was Lisa who shook her head slowly. "It shot upwards." Her eyes gazed at the hole in the ceiling. "Some of the ceiling fragments hit us, but nothing too serious." Her eyes went back to the holy knight. "You are?"

"Escad, I met Rhea this morning."

"More importantly." Rhea growled. "If your so called 'accident' shot upwards, how do you explain the broken and burned objects in here?"

"Oh, this?" Bud looked around. "This was yesterday when...mph!"

Lisa forced his mouth shut. Only a moment too late, for Rhea had already understood the sequence of events. If she could pick one person to kill that day, then Elazul was on top of her list. Said Jumi shivered when her enraged gaze stared him down.

"48 hours, uh?"

The Jumi pushed his hair away from his face while sighing in guilt. "Almost..."

The two bladed warrior felt a lot of things. Smack the twins on the head with enough strength to knock some conscious into them and kick Elazul's behind hard enough to knock him into the air. She wanted to hurt them, by the Goddess she really did. Something would have happened, were not Escad to step in.

"Accidents do happen when you're trying to perfect something." he smiled at the twins. "That is especially true for magic. Have you perfected what you wanted?"

Bud's smile grew so wide, it became somewhat terrifying on the small elf's face. "We have!" he got up and moved away from where he had fallen. "Look!"

Everyone did so, even Pearl came closer to witness the white drawing on the floor. It was a large circle, with complex patterns and writings to fill it. Rhea wasn't sure if the moonlight was to blame, but she could swear there was a certain glow to the drawing on the floor.

"What is it?" she asked.

Lisa tightened her ponytail. "It's a teleport gate." she faced the wondering crowd. "It allows us to quickly teleport to other places in Fa'Diel." her eyes searched for Rhea's. "We thought it would help you get around your jobs and come home much faster, Rhea!"

There it was, the guilt. So the two had been working on a teleport gate to help her. Because they wanted her to spend more time at home. Spend more time with them. Be together.

Rhea closed her eyes to avoid the tears from falling. "It's late, I'm tired and hungry. Let's just go home and have dinner."

X

During dinner, Elazul couldn't help but notice how elegant and poised Escad was while eating. Everything from the way he handled the cutlery to the way he held his glass. Every gesture and movement suggested a high education, possibly royal – maybe.

But there was something about the holly knight that Elazul did not like. Perhaps it was the fact that the elf twins were far more impressed with the title "Holly Knight" than a "Jumi Knight". Was it because he made Pearl laugh? He hadn't seen her laugh in a really long time. Or maybe – just maybe – it was because something about Escad made Rhea's cheeks slightly red. His gaze, for the most part of the conversation that took place, had been focused on her.

Why did that bother him? Did it really? Jumi had a hard time processing their feelings in current days. This made it hard for him to figure out what really was upsetting him at the moment. No, he could tell what, or rather, who it was – Escad.

The so called holly knight just showed up and everyone seemed to be interested in him. Now with his luxurious golden hair and near perfect physique. His well articulated words and natural charm. Somehow all of that annoyed Elazul. But not even he could predict his burst of rage that followed.

"Then it's of no inconvenience that I sleep with you?"

The ones who didn't gasp at the words were the twins. Pearl had been the most dramatic, widening her eyes in shock while covering her mouth with both hands. The topic began when Escad asked Rhea where he could spend the night. The host wondered about the situation for quite a while. She knew the library was occupied by Elazul and had a gut feeling not to leave those two alone, the attic was now full with three beds, which left her room.

"I-I..." Rhea's voice trembled with embarrassment.

Of course, when she mentioned her room, her initial thought was to go get hay and make a bed besides hers or something. Not with her, inside her bed!

Two hands slammed the table, grabbing everyone's attention. A body furiously rose from the chair and menacing eyes shot down the holly knight.

"You are not sleeping with Rhea."

Elazul didn't notice then, but every single inch of his body evoked fear and the slightest mistake, even with words, would trigger the Jumi knight into a fight.

Escad studied the opposing knight carefully. He leaned back in his chair in a way that suggested he didn't mean to fight, but crossed his arms in front of his chest that suggested he was not afraid. "May I ask why you get to decide that?"

Elazul took a deep breath, releasing his mind from the rage boiling inside of him. "I'm Pearl's guardian. Rhea's room is far to close to where she'll be staying and I don't trust you near any of them."

The tension in the air seemed to have calmed down for everyone. They heard the twins complaining about the 'adult's bad temper' and slowly everything went back to normal.

"I see." Escad smiled. "I too would not trust a foreigner near my guardian. I have read a few thing about you Jumi and how you honor the guardian and knight code."

"Then it's simple." Rhea rose both index fingers in the air and crossed them. "Both of you switch. Escad stays in the library and I'll prepare an extra bed in my room." Her eyes circled the table. "Is this ok for everyone?" A quick nod from the crowd signaled the approval. Rhea smirked. "Good. Otherwise I have a really nice stable for everyone to sleep with Fenrir!"

X

Elazul watched Rhea go down from the attic. He had just finished preparing his bed as well, and during so, he had a lot of time to think about his action during dinner. He knew how it looked like when his anger took the best of him. But he didn't know why he said it the way he did. His explanation saved him, but he still couldn't phantom what really took over him.

"I'm sorry." he said when Rhea approached him. "I should not have acted like that. Not in your house."

Rhea smiled, dismissing such a thing with her hand. "Already forgotten." she pointed to a shinny object near her bed. "Will you help me hang that lantern outside the window?"

The Jumi had wondered about that thing. "What is it?"

"It's a lantern made of faeries light." she explained while grabbing the lantern. "Monique offered me one at Lumina."

Elazul remembered the story Rhea told during dinner. How she somehow learned the Dudbear language in order to sell lanterns in Lumina just so a centaur named Gilbert could 'get it on' with a siren named Monique. The story made everyone at the table laugh, even Pearl couldn't help herself, and he especially had a really hard time to disguise the amusement.

He opened the window near her desk, taking the lantern Rhea offered and carefully placed it on top of the window outside where an iron hook stood. Rhea closed the window and sat at the desk, chin rested in both hands as she admired the soothing blue aura the lantern radiated. Elazul sat next to her. His eyes gazed the beautiful lantern. It was both magical and relaxing, so much so, that neither of the two realized how long they had been staring at it.

"You're leaving tomorrow, right?" she asked.

Elazul faced her crimson eyes. "Yes. I'll start looking for other Jumi starting tomorrow."

She smiled, and Elazul felt his hearth beat a little faster. Something about that faeries light radiating over Rhea made her look different. He felt confused and fought the urge to place an arm around her. Why did he felt like doing that?

He almost got hit in the face when Rhea stretched her arms and yawned. "Well, I'm tired and ready for bed. You?"

The Jumi eyed the lantern once more. "I'm going too. It's best if I leave early."

"Well then, good-night Azul." she giggled while giving him a kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow."

Rhea rose and went straight for bed. But not Elazul. The knight swallowed, his eyes staring at nothing in particular while he felt the warmth on the left side of his cheek spread around his face. It took him a long time to process the good-night kiss from Rhea. He remembered his parents doing the same thing when he was a child. As an adult, nobody had ever done that to him. Rhea had referred to him and Pearl as friends before, so perhaps the problem was his for not trusting others. He decided then and there he would make an effort to be friendlier to Rhea. After all, she had more than proven her good intentions. And it would be nice to have someone to call a friend that was a not a Jumi.

He got up and also went to bed. Never knowing that on the other side of the room, Rhea struggled to close her eyes and sleep, wondering of what got over her to be so casual around Elazul. And became thankful that the Jumi was leaving tomorrow so the event would never be mentioned.

 **A/N:** Wow, this took a really long time! My apologies for that, but a lot of stuff was going on in my life. And I do mean _a lot_! Thanks for being patient with me, and I'll work hard to get the next chapter as fast as I can :)


	12. An Enemy From The Past

"Finally, the exit! I was so worried..."

Rhea and Niccolo had spent the entire afternoon in the Mindas Ruins, searching for the rumored Flowering able to use psychokinetic powers. Niccolo simply wished to disprove such a rumor, or so he claimed. The female warrior knew the tricky rabbit a little better, and her gut told her Niccolo wished to find such a Flowering to earn some profit with it. And just as she suspected, as soon as they found a Flowering using psychokinetic Niccolo attempted to capture it.

But much to his demise and Rhea's amusement, the Flowering managed to escape using the same power Niccolo so longed for. Frustrated, Niccolo decided to abandon the mission and go back to Domina. The Mindas Ruins were a frustrating place to explore. The heavy vegetation merging with the ancient buildings, transformed the area into a natural maze – one worse than the Forest.

"By the way, Niccolo." Rhea caught the rabbit's attention. "I've been talking to Rachel almost every single day for the past three weeks and her conversations are starting to worry me. Could you find something for her to do? Just to keep her mind distracted for a while. Her parents are extremely worried."

The rabbit crossed his arms in front of his large belly and gave the suggestion some thought. "I guess I could offer her a part-time job as an errand girl. Deliver some of my merchandise to the costumers."

Rhea turned her head slightly towards Niccolo. It actually surprised her how generously he made the offer. But of course, it was all a matter of price. "Thanks, Niccolo."

The merchant unfolded his arms while shaking his head. "Today was a complete waste! That Flowering couldn't use psychokinesis, so he ran away! What a fake."

The two bladed warrior seemed dumfounded by the rabbit's statement. "What are you talking about? How do you think he got away? It seemed pretty clear that he used..." her eyes began to follow the rabbit leaving the Mindas Ruins, not really paying any attention to her. "Hey, aren't you going to pay me?" Niccolo left the ruins, leaving the warrior alone. "Niccolo?"

X

Pearl recoiled another bed sheet from the clothes-line. She'd been taking care of the house since Elazul left in order to help Rhea and keep her mind busy. At first she felt sad that her guardian had left her, and while she still wished to be protected, Rhea had made her feel better and made her understand Elazul's feelings a little better.

It became easier as the days went by. Everyone had their own routine. The twins would usually practice their magic, lately they had been perfecting the teleport gate they created. It had become their most useful magic. At first, they could only connect it to Gato, since another magic user had to approve the second teleport gate in order for it to work, and the Gato nuns had agreed to secure the second gate in order for them to travel there quickly.

How it actually worked was confusing for Pearl, but she grasped the concept that there had to be an entrance and an exit for someone to be teleported to another area – which made sense. In the mere three weeks and two days that the twins had been working on their teleport gate, the number of places they could travel had also grown.

Bud became impatient when learning that Rhea had met the Wisdom Rosiotti, and so, after quite the struggle to communicate with said Wisdom, they had created another gate to the Forest where Rosiotti lived and Bud could finally meet him. His twin sister Lisa then managed to convince her brother to expand the gate to Geo, the city where they used to study at. Bud disliked the idea at first, but once their teachers approved the gate and they traveled there, they became happy to see all of their friends again. So much so, that both Bud and Lisa were now at the Duma desert, on a field trip with their classmates.

As for Rhea, she'd been relaxing these days. Every other morning she would go to Domina's market to buy them food and visit her friend Rachel. After lunch, she'd go outside to try and train Fenrir, her one month old wolf who became bigger every day. The rest of her time, she could be found either at the library or outside reading her books. At first Pearl thought that she read to relax her mind, only, she began to notice how focused she looked while reading and even took notes from said books.

Pearl kept herself entertained with the chores around the house. Rhea objected at first, until she understood it made Pearl feel like she belonged there. She would also have stopped counting the days of her guardian's absence, however Rhea kept mentioning him every single day. Pearl smiled at the thought. She wondered if Rhea realized how much she spoke of Elazul and how she was always the one to start that conversation.

Fenrir's growl broke her thoughts and made her alert. The wolf stood at the entrance gate warning a stranger to stay away. Pearl covered her core and walked cautiously towards the gate. There she saw a gray wolf in red armor. He was very tall and hardly seemed intimidated by Fenrir's presence. He most likely thought he could kill the four legged wolf before it could bark.

The beast's red eyes sent shivers down Pearl's spine as it asked. "Are you the one called Rhelia? I am Larc, a dragoon."

The guardian shook her head. "No one by that name lives here, Sir."

She saw the confusion in his eyes, and the consciousness of his body movement so not to provoke the other wolf. "Are you certain? I bear no ill intentions, just a proposal from my lord."

"You should tell your lord that proposals should be discussed in person."

Larc followed the new female voice behind him. A blonde girl with lavender eyes. A hand casually resting on her daggers, only for the dragoon's trained eyes, he knew she was ready to wield them should she find it necessary. "As he does." his voice was a reassuring one. "However, my lord is unable to leave. As such he requests your presence and assures that your time will be worth the listening." he scanned the two bladed warrior once again. "Are you Rhelia?"

Her eyes widened momentarily, but her expression remained the same. "It's Rhea. What was your name again?"

"I am Larc, a dragoon." his gaze shifted from Rhea to Pearl and Fenrir. It became apparent for both girls that the dragoon felt uncomfortable standing there between them.

The two bladed warrior's eyes frowned. "A dragoon, you say?"

"A knight who serves a dragon. If you want to know more, you should come to the Underworld with me."

What the dragoon didn't realize, was that Rhea hadn't made the question because she was unaware of what a dragoon was, rather, she was simply surprised to see one. Still, Rhea didn't correct him.

She rested a hand on her hip, allowing some distance from the blades and allow the dragoon to ease his fighting stance. "You've caught my interest. It just so happens I have been looking for certain dragons for a very long time." She tried to resist, but a sinister smile drew on her face nonetheless. "The Underworld? That's quite far from here, and how am I supposed to enter if I'm not dead?"

Larc's right arm stretched. Small sparks of energy appeared at his fingertips, the wolf concentrated and a large portal appeared. Red and gray smoke swirling inside, hardly inviting one inside.

"This portal will take us inside the Underwold." his red eyes locked her lavender one's. "Once there, all you have to do is see Olbohn and he'll grant you passage."

Rhea laughed, in a way that bothered the others. "It's that easy? I guess there's no harm in listening to your master. I'll go."

"Rhea..." Pearl's voice barely a whisper.

The two bladed warrior approached the dragoon and eyed the Jumi. "Stay here with Fenrir. I won't be long. If I don't comeback by nightfall... tell the twins I'm sorry and Elazul to forgive me. I think this one is really important to me, Pearl."

It wasn't how fast Rhea had decided to go the Underworld with an unknown knight. It wasn't because she forgot all of her responsibilities and promises to keep everyone safe. It was the rage in her eyes that both worried and frightened Pearl. That rage consumed her so fast that the guardian wasn't sure if Rhea felt it at all. And why had she become angry because someone mistook her name?

"Please, go thru the portal and I'll follow you behind." Larc asked.

Rhea waited for Pearl to give her the nod of approval before jumping inside the portal without hesitation. The dragoon followed her before the portal closed and Pearl was left alone with a wolf who begun to howl.

X

Rhea opened her eyes. All was foggy around her and it took her a minute to adjust to the dim light and manage to raise her body from the ground. She felt sick to her stomach and for a moment worried she would throw up.

"Have you awakened?" she recognized Larc's deep voice.

"Awake, yes. Alive? Not so sure..."

The dragoon smiled, revealing his fangs. "You may feel sick and dizzy until Olbohn grants you passage. After all, this is no place for the living."

Rhea cursed under her breath. "I guess knowing that does make me feel better." she shot the dragoon an intimidating stare, as to remind him she did not trust him. "Lead me to your master."

The dragoon nodded once. "First we see Olbohn. This way."

Rhea studied the long murky corridors. Nothing there yet, or at least, nothing she could see. The problem was that despite her vision haven become used to the dark environment, she couldn't see much. Unlike those who inhabited that realm, she was a creature of the upper world.

 _Hey, newly-dead!_

 _Watch out for that guy!_

 _Kahahaha!_

The voices shrieked and mocked in the darkness. Shadoles, Larc called them.

 _We're like shadows._

 _Shadows of everything!_

 _You'll be one of us, too!_

The journey had been longer than Rhea cared for, with the Shadoles teasingly lurking behind them. She also hadn't expect to fight monsters down there.

The dragoon came to a sudden stop. His arm stretching in front of him. "Inside. Olbohn will help you."

Rhea entered the Wisdom's control room. Olbohn, the keeper of the Underworld met her gaze and then Larc's. Rhea respected the silence between them until the Wisdom took the initiative.

"Larc," the Wisdom's voice was deep and solemn. "Dragoon of Drakonis." Larc remained silent. "Why do you bother me, bringing this person down here?"

The dragoon raised his chest in pride. "As a dragoon, I must follow the will of my master."

Olbohn shot Rhea a more critical look. "You brought quite a lively one... So will Drakoni's plans succeed now?" Another wave of silence was the Wisdom's answer. Olbohn gave Larc half a smirk. "I would love to help if you had a nice spot for me."

Rhea relaxed her hands once the tight grip began to hurt her. She had to focus and be smart about it. She wasn't there... not yet.

Larc's mouth tighten in irritation. "If you really mean it, then give permission to perform the Baptism of Flames. But if those words were meant to insult my Master, then mind you..."

"Permission granted." The Wisdom interrupted. "Receive the Baptism of Flames."

Rhea felt a ghost hand flat against her forehead. She screamed when the heat surrounded her body and the energy flowed inside her. It must have lasted a mere second, but for the two bladed warrior it felt like an hour had gone by. Once it was over Rhea felt sick to her stomach and for a moment she almost threw up.

The Wisdom smiled. "Now you can go to the bottom levels without losing your soul."

"Let's go!" Larc growled. "Our Master awaits!"

" _Our Master?"_ Rhea wondered with some amuse.

They left Olbohn's chamber and further down their path. As they traveled, Rhea began seeing the souls of the dead lurking around. They sent chills down her spine and she hoped, no, she _wished_ not to see anyone she knew.

After a long way down, the two entered a large chamber. Rhea gasped at the faraway castle in the background. A majestic structure towering all the way to the ceiling, desperate for a way out, desperate to display it's power and glory.

"Prepare yourself, my master comes." she watched as the dragoon knelled. "Lord Drakonis..."

A portal, much like the one Larc had summoned for them to travel to that place appeared at her side. She felt her heartbeat raise, her palms became sweaty and rage began to blur her vision. A human form emerged from the portal and the Emperor revealed himself.

His long red mustache drew a smirk as soon as his crimson eyes laid on the two bladed warrior. "So you finally found her..."

The skilful Lord had but only time to draw his own sword to protect himself, as Rhea quickly cut at his flank. The two blades leaped high, above the defense, and hacked at his head. Drakonis sprang backward, and the vicious stroke hurtled down, missing by a matter of inches. Rhea started to rush after him only to be stopped and somewhat choked by Larc's large arms. The dragoon managed to relieve her of the blades and hold her in place by pressing his claws against her neck. Even she knew better than to strugle in that situation.

"Enough with this foolishness, great warrior." Drakonis spoke. "I summoned you for a reason."

"For me to cut your head off, you bastard!" she hissed.

Drakonis shook his head in disappointment. "I am a war Lord. I know better than to search for an enemy that wants me dead had I not a good offer." He waited for the words to sink into her head. He noticed her body relax a little. That was good. "I want you to return the magical powers that were stolen from me by the other three dragons."

Rhea freed herself in a push, and Larc was ordered to stand down for the time being. "Why would I help you? I want every single one of you dead!"

Drakonis frowned. "Because it took you this long just to get to me. And you still wouldn't be here had I not sent someone to get you." The Emperor began to walk around. "I was once the Emperor of Dragons. Thanks to me, we ruled the surface and we were respected by every race in Fa'Diel. Only, three jealous dragons stole my powers for themselves. I was made to wander the Underworld in this weakened form." Rhea noticed how disgusted he sounded. "These three dragons," he eyed her viciously. Like a panther about to hunt. "They were there too. My proposal is as follows. I will tell you where to find them. Kill them, attain your revenge and return my powers."

Rhea clenched her teeth in rage. "And I let you live?"

"I find it to be a fair trade. Three dragons for the life of one." The emperor argued.

"The master does not want you to decide right away." Larc intervened. "I brought you merely to listen to the proposal. I will return you to the surface and allow you to think about it."

Two balls of flames formed at Drakonis side. They floated in loops and circles, leaving glowing trails of scarlet light in their paths. They moved faster and faster, until a portal was opened behind the Lord of dragons. "Take your time to consider this offer, great warrior." He said as his body began to vanish into light. "I'm sure you'll be smart about it."

X

Night had fallen when Larc brought Rhea back home. Smoke from the chimney alerting to dinner, the warm light from the house a promise to another familiar night.

"How long were we down there?" she questioned.

The dragoon seemed surprised. The two bladed warrior had been silent ever since her encounter with Drakonis. Still, he replied. "Even I am unaware how time works in the Underworld. I suppose time is no longer an issue for those of us who no longer breathe." The dragoon kept the portal opened as to leave immediately. "Prepare yourself..."

And as Rhea turned, the dragoon was already gone. Leaving her alone with her thoughts in a much too silent night.

 **A/N:** Sorry this took so long! I actually deleted the original chapter as I just wasn't feeling it. You could say I suffered from a major writers block on this one! I think it turned out ok Perhaps in the future I will revisit it and make a few changes here and there. But for now, it's here to leave everyone curious as to "what is going on?!" :)


End file.
